Complicated
by JediEmilie
Summary: Before the newborn fight Jacob takes Bella down to La Push and she meets Leah. Leah is enraged by the sight of Bella and takes off without a word.
1. The Begining

Bella

Jake was excitedly talking about his plans for us today.

"We just need to swing by Emily's for a second, I have to talk to Sam. Then we'll drop by my place and then walk down to the beach."

"Sounds great, Jake." I was a bit happy we were going to Emily's. It was nice to be around another human in this world of supernatural beings.

"Quil's been bugging me about seeing you again."

I laughed lightly at that. Jake and I slipped into a comfortable silence and I watched the landscape pass. Jake still drove pretty fast but not as fast as Edward, he knows it scares me when he speeds too much. Jake is an amazing friend, he is always there for me when I need him. I couldn't help feel a little guilty about our complicated relationship. However, I didn't have time to circle deeper down that drain of self-hatred because we pulled up outside Emily's house.

Quil, Embry, Paul, and Jared came pouring out of the house. Jacob and I hopped out of his rabbit and walked towards the boys.

"Embry you too?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I'm finally one of the pack!"

I looked over the incredibly large boys as they went on teasing Jake and each other. I was pulled out of my thoughts when a tall woman with short cropped hair came out to join the boys.

"Bella, this is Leah Clearwater. Harry Clearwater's daughter." Jacob explained.

I made eye contact with Leah and was met with such deep, hate-filled, eyes I took half a step back. Leah clenched her jaw tightly and balled her fists. Her fists were shaking violently, it looked eerily familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. I realized I hadn't said anything and flushed slightly at my lack of social awareness.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about your father." I stammered out, still taken aback by the pure hatred in Leah's eyes.

Her shaking seemed to spread further from her fists, into her arms and shoulders.

"Leah." Jacob said in a tone that sounded a bit confused and a warning.

Leah turned her gaze to Jacob for a second and let out a low growl sounding noise. She then turned her gaze back to mine and there was a sudden flash of sadness that was quickly replaced with burning rage again. I must have imagined the sadness because there was no way there was any other emotion than pure hatred for me. Leah shook even more violently and took off in a sprint towards the woods. Halfway to the treeline, Leah exploded into a beautiful grey wolf. I gasped quietly to myself, taken aback by the beautiful wolf and the sudden realization that Leah was a werewolf too. As if she heard my gasp the big head of the wolf turned back and looked directly at me with tortured eyes. My heart ached at the sight of so much pain. The wolf turned back towards the woods and disappeared into the treeline. I stood there marveling at the speed in which she had taken off.

"What's up with her?" Jacob turned back to look at his pack brothers.

They shrugged or gave vague indifferent grunts. Just then a loud mournful howl echoed from the woods Leah had just disappeared into. A lump formed in the back of my throat and I almost felt like I hurt for the wolf too. The pack exchanged looks, ranging from pitty to annoyance, then headed back inside. Jacob and I followed.

I sat at the kitchen table picking at my muffin, vaguely aware of the conversation around me. I was remembering Leah's beautiful wolf form and the soul-crushing howl. Was it her who let out that cry? It had to have been, everyone else was here unless there was a new werewolf I didn't know about yet. They seemed to be popping up like weeds. I shouldn't have brought up Leah's father, it was too soon. I started to feel guilty and wanted to go find her to apologize. My heart pulled down into my stomach and I ached for Leah, she had been through so much turmoil with Sam, Emily, and now her father. All I wanted to do was go to her and try to comfort her. I don't really know why I want to comfort Leah, especially because she hates me. But then again I don't think I could handle half of what she's dealing with. I was suddenly pulled out of my thoughts when I heard her name mentioned.

"Yeah, just started shaking. Then she took off into the woods." Jacob was explaining to Sam, half interested.

"Alright, I'll go see what set her off. She should know better than to let her emotions slip so close to a human." Sam started for the back door. And I suddenly felt two strong emotions hit me like a brick wall. I was incredibly angry that Sam was going to help Leah and not someone else. Hadn't he put her through enough emotional drama? But I was also relieved someone was going to go fix my stupidity of bringing up Harry.


	2. Life Sucks

Leah POV

The pack jumped up and ran out the door to great Jacob and his leech lover. I stayed seated in the corner grimacing. She'll probably make Emily's reek like a bloodsucker. Why did Jacob keep hanging around her? It's obvious she's just using him to fill her spare time. I don't even understand how he can stand being near her, let alone hug. I bet as soon as you step out the door you can smell the leech radiating off of her. The thought intrigued me slightly, how much of her scent would be there and how much would the leech overpower it? I guess that's useful information to know if I ever had to track a leech hostage situation. Maybe I just want to go out there and give her a piece of my mind. I'll go out there, see how close I can get before my nose burns from the leech, and then see if I can even smell human under it. Then I can tell her to quit jerking Jacob's heart around. It's hard enough dealing with Sam's thoughts of Emily in my head all the time but Jacob is so loud with his lame love triangle thoughts. The sooner Bella fucks off the sooner I can run with a little less love bullshit. I guess he'll be heartbroken for a while but it'll be nice to have someone else hurting too. Maybe that makes me an asshole, but I don't really care.

With a sigh, I stood and slowly walked towards the door. I could hear the pack outside joking around and laughing. Guess I'll put an end to that. Slowly, I walked down the porch steps, looking at the ground as I heard the playful attitude dwindle. They had heard my approach, Leah the fun killer incoming. Stopping slightly in front of Embry I made eye contact with Jacob.

"Bella, this is Leah Clearwater. Harry Clearwater's daughter." Jacob introduced me.

No shit Jacob, we had met when we were pretty young. We used to hang out when Charlie came down to visit Harry. We got along alright, nothing too special. My gaze wandered to Bella's face to see if she had any sign of recognition. That's when it hit me. My heart skipped a beat and was suddenly in rhythm with Bella's. It was a subtle change, and I was sure no one noticed except me. Freak show Leah, step on up and get your tickets. The only female shapeshifter _ever_. Imprinted on another woman. Why am I so fucked up? I clenched my fists and jaw, grinding my teeth, in an attempt to stay calm. My fists trembled uncontrollably but I couldn't stop staring at Bella. Bella took half a step back, staring back at me with wide eyes. Yeah, back away from the freak show. Why her? It could have been anyone but I had to imprint on the girl Jacob pined after. The one that loved a bloodsucker. All this imprint did is set me up for heartbreak, all over again.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about your father." She stuttered out.

She had genuine sorrow in her eyes, under the shock. A lump formed in my throat and I wanted to let go, to finally grieve the loss of my father. I wanted to bury my face in the crook of her neck, for her to hold me, while I cry. I quickly shoved that urge down and clenched my fists tighter, my shaking getting more aggressive. I can't hold on much longer but I don't want to leave yet. No! I can fight this bullshit imprint, I can leave whenever. I don't need this kind of drama in my life. Fuck this whole shapeshifter bullshit.

"Leah," Jake warned.

My eyes snapped to Jake. Does he think I'm stupid? I can control myself enough not to phase so close to someone. I growled at him low, not trusting my ability to form the words 'Fuck off' through my clenched teeth. Something in my soul demanded I look at Bella again, it was impossible to fight the urge. My heart sank when I looked at her and saw the hurt in her eyes. The thought of being upset by Bella's emotions was the last straw. I can't stay here any longer, my legs started moving me towards the treeline. I was running as fast as I could but it wasn't fast enough. My rage exploded and I could feel my legs turn from two to four mid-run. I instantly felt better but just before I could allow myself to fully give in to the emotional turmoil that is my life I heard Bella gasp. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were filled with wonder and admiration, but that was quickly taken over by a look of sadness. My heart begged me to go back and comfort her. I had to grit my teeth, my muscles all became tense. Before I caved to the imprint I turned and ran the rest of the way into the woods. My heart fought back and I was filled with the worst feeling of loneliness I'd ever experienced. It caused me to falter a few steps and I nearly fell. Uncontrollably, a howl rippled from my chest, as if my heart were able to directly sing out its protest at me running the wrong way.

I need to get out of here, I need to leave I need to run. My paws beat the damp underbrush in a frenzied sprint. I crashed through low hanging branches, a small heard of deer spooked not too far from me. I kept running, my lungs burning in protest at my insistence to keep sprinting. All of a sudden I wasn't alone, I could feel Sam's presence in my thoughts. I tried desperately to hide my thoughts but it has always been hardest to hide them from Sam. He knew me too well, our relationship before all the bullshit shapeshifter stuff made it so easy for him to understand me and get in my head now. Which made me hate the shapeshifting even more.

'Leah?'

'I don't want to fucking talk about it, Sam! Just go back to Emily and forget everything.'

'You know you can't fight it, Leah. It'll rip you apart and you'll just be a shell of a person. Trust me I tried…'

'I told you I don't want to fucking talk. And don't give me your lame guilt bullshit. Go to Emily and live out your happy little lives.'

'You could be happy as well Leah, you just have to stop fighting it.'

Just then I felt Jacob's presence join us. I tried even harder to try and make my mind a blank slate, but I hadn't had enough time to compose myself.

'What the actual fuck?! NO! You can't. I love her, I've always loved her. You hate her, this isn't right!' I could see through Jacob's mind link that he changed his course so he was now running in my direction.

'You think I want this shit, Jacob? Really? I _love_ being the freakshow. You can have her, I can fight this. I'm strong enough not to give in to some voodoo shapeshifter bullshit.' I made a point to mentally empathize the last part, dripping with hatred, at Sam.

'You should have never imprinted on her in the first place! You've never liked her, you hate her. Why you?'

'Jacob! Go back to Emily's, you can walk.' Sam boomed in his alpha voice. I couldn't help cringe a little at the alpha command even though it wasn't directed at me. Just like that Jacob's presence disappeared.

'Take some time Leah, I'll talk to Sue.'

Sam's presence disappeared as well and I was finally alone with my thoughts. I kept running with no real destination but I knew I couldn't go too far. I'd have to go back eventually, Sam wouldn't let me run out here as a wolf forever, especially with the newborn army threatening our people and Bella.

Bella, she must be so scared, maybe I should-NO!


	3. The Dream Wolf

Bella POV

I shuddered as Edward ran his finger up my bare arm and my mind screamed at me to pull away.

"Sorry love, are you cold?"

He was already pulling more blankets over me and tucking me in tight, like a burrito. I just nodded, shocked at my body's reaction. Edwards touch should send electricity through my body, not chills. I'm probably tired and it's just some way of my body protesting at me still being awake. I shifted deeper into my pillow and closed my eyes, slowly. I didn't feel tired, maybe I'm overtired. Edwards lips pressed against my forehead, trailed kisses down my cheek, kissed each eyelid before kissing my lips softly. Somewhere deep in my mind, it screamed in protest, I was confused by the reaction and tried to take my mind off the present.

My mind wandered to the events of my day earlier, in La Push. Jake had gone to see what was taking Sam so long with Leah. When he had come back he looked upset. I guess Leah was in a really sour mood. He's told me in the past about what a drag Leah could be. I thought this was a bit unfair to her, she's been through a lot of heartbreak. Let alone now she was apart of the pack, she has to follow Sam around. That had to be rough. Jake told me he had to cancel our plans for the day because he had to do something for Sam. I protested and asked why someone else couldn't do it. I stopped as soon as I saw the look of hurt and anger on his face. I guess he doesn't really have a choice and he must be as bummed as me. I hung out at Emily's all day with her and the pack, the boys came and went. As they came back, however, I noticed each of them sneaking looks at me. At first, I thought I had something on my face, maybe something in my teeth. I excused myself to the bathroom I didn't see anything wrong. When I came back Emily was smiling at me wide. I smiled back sheepishly and blushed a little. Her smile was so admiring I didn't understand what had happened when I went to the bathroom.

The rest of the day Emily stuck close to me, her mood seemed to shift in the time I was in the bathroom. She was suddenly my best friend, gossiping with me about all the drama in La Push. Excitedly talking about when we hang out next time we should go check out a small clothing store on the res. Still confused I nodded along, only half paying attention to the conversation as she puttered around the house. I helped her cook for the pack, and was still shocked at the amount of food we made. All of the pack rotated through at some point to get food and to hang out, except Jake and Leah. The boys were still sneaking glances at me with varying degrees of smiles that they were trying to hide. I had never felt so welcomed in La Push, I was the vampire chick after all. Maybe it just took me spending time with them to gain their friendship. I suddenly felt guilty for not properly spending time with Jake's pack, this was essentially his family.

As I thought about my day I did slowly drift off and the reality of the day slowly gave out to the fantasy of dreams. I was in the woods, alone but I wasn't scared. And then I wasn't alone. Edward stood a little ways away from me and something in my subconscious screamed at me to run. My heart started racing and Edward smiled an eerily wild smirk at me. That's when I noticed his eyes, they were blazing red. Once I saw his eyes I noticed his posture, he was slightly crouched, lip pulled up exposing his teeth on one side of his mouth. My mind screamed for me to run but I couldn't move, my feet were rooted in place. Edward took a step closer to me. There was a low rumbling growl from behind me. I should have been scared but I didn't turn to look, the growl somehow meant safety to me. This was all wrong, I should run to Edward for safety from the growling darkness. Edward's wild smirk faltered for a second but then his eyes shifted back to me. He took another step towards me, my heartbeat speeding up again, the blood draining from my hands and feet, making them cold and clammy. A loud snarl erupted from behind me and if I hadn't been frozen in fear I would have covered my ears. But I didn't flinch from the noise, it somehow felt safe and the sound encouraged my heart to slow and some warmth return to my hands and feet. I heard movement behind me but I never took my eyes off of Edward's blood red eyes. Then I felt soft fur rub against my bare arm, warmth, and safety radiated from it. I took a deep breath out of relief, my heart slowing to a normal pace again. I finally took my eyes from Edward to look at the small grey wolf beside me. I leaned into the wolf, half my body disappearing into the soft fur.

My dream suddenly shifted and I was no longer in the dark woods with Edward and the wolf. I was in a brightly lit meadow that had a little river running through it. I closed my eyes and smiled up at the sun, enjoying the sounds of the meadow. The birds sang off in the woods, the river ran gently over the rocks. I heard the soft approach of feet, two pairs, but didn't open my eyes until I felt soft fur brush my shoulder. When I slowly opened my eyes and tilted my head down to look I already knew it would be my little grey wolf. I reached my hand up and slowly ran it from the head of the wolf, down its front shoulder letting my hand stop on the side of its shoulder. I pushed my hand a little and sunk it into the soft fur, bringing my other hand up. Before I could bury my second hand into the beautiful fur the wolf bowed its head towards my upraised hand. I ran it through the fur on the top of its head and it closed its eyes, contently. I ran my hand along the side of its snout and then ran my hand over its incredibly soft ears. The wolf slowly opened its eyes, its head lowered to my eye level. The wolf looked directly into my soul and I needed to be closer to it, everything in my being screamed to be closer.

I woke startled by the blaring of my alarm clock. Edward smiled at me and murmured reassurances, turning off my alarm. I smiled shakily back at him, still trying to process my dream. I had dreamt of Leah, well Leah's wolf form. Her wolf was quite beautiful, and I couldn't help but remember how graceful she had been yesterday.

"What are you thinking, Love?" Edward asked with an admiring tone.

"Err, just thinking about my dream." I blushed slightly, almost feeling guilty to share such a special dream with someone else.

Edward looked like he wanted to press for further details but sighed.

"I'll be back to pick you up for school." He smiled and kissed me quickly before taking his leave out the window.

I could hear Charlie coming up the stairs, he knocked on my door.

"Hey, Bells. Are you awake?"

Normally I would have been annoyed at Charlie for causing Edward to leave but today I felt different.

"Yeah, what's up?"

Charlie came into my room and nodded.

"After work, I'm going down to the Clearwater's…" He trailed off not wanting to state the obvious as to why. "So you'll be alone for dinner unless you want to tag along."

Charlie always asked if I wanted to go with him to the Clearwater's, maybe hoping Leah and I would hang out as we used to when we were young kids. I always turn him down but today, after my dream, I hesitated before answering and I saw a glimmer of hope in Charlie's eyes. My own hesitation caught me off guard too and I just barely managed to get out a "no thank you." Charlie nodded and left, closing my door behind him.

I got ready for school and my mind kept drifting to my dream of Leah's beautiful wolf. And my mind started to wander and ask itself questions. Is her fur really that soft? Would she smell that good in real life? Every time I caught myself thinking about Leah I couldn't help blush lightly. I don't understand why I kept thinking about Leah, we haven't spoken in years. She hated me so why did I keep thinking about that beautiful wolf? At lunch, Edward asked me why I was so quiet today and I shrugged. He raised an eyebrow as a question. I looked away from him, still feeling his gaze on me. His piercing gaze was starting to make me uncomfortable, I would have killed for him to be this interested in me last week. Something just felt wrong about the way he looked at me now.

A week passed and I couldn't help but feel distanced from Edward. He wrote it off as nerves towards the newborn army in Seatle. I couldn't help but want to get away from Edward. I felt like something was pulling me to La Push. I hadn't seen or heard from Jake in a little over a week. I kept trying to call Jake but he never called back or Billy said he was out patrolling. It felt like Deja Vu from when he first joined the pack. Panic quickly rose and I knew I needed to go see Jacob soon. Edward and his family were hunting this Saturday and I decided I was going to go down to La Push. My heart sang when I decided on that so it had to be the right choice. If Jake was mad at me for something he would have to tell me, I wouldn't leave until I knew why he won't talk to me.

I was looking up at the tops of the trees but my head was moving up and down lightly. I realized my head was resting on the side of my grey wolf's chest. My head moved with every breath she took. We were laying in the forest, her furry body wrapped around me, protectively. I felt so warm and safe, despite the chill I could feel in the air. I turned my head to look at the big head of the wolf. I was met with beautiful big eyes looking back at me. I swear I could see a smile just in her eyes. I smiled at the wolf and she curled a little tighter against me, her tail coming up to wrap around me as well. It was so furry and soft it was like a blanket, I sighed contently.

When I woke I couldn't help feel a little sad and desperate to go back to sleep. I quickly pushed that away, a little disturbed by how much I wanted to be with my little wolf again. I mentally corrected myself, not my wolf...just Leah's wolf form. Slightly disturbed by my possessive feeling towards Leah's wolf form I hopped in the shower, my mood switching to excitement about going to La Push. A nagging pulling feeling in my chest eased the closer I got to La Push. I hadn't realized it was there until it started to ease up, my shoulders relaxed and I could feel the tension release from them.

I was expecting Jake to come out and great me, but he seemed to be in his garage. Maybe he had his hands full. I hopped out of my truck and headed back to the garage, where the lights were on. As soon as I crossed the threshold he barked "What do you want?". I froze, taken aback by the harshness in his voice.

"You haven't talked to me in a week, I just came to see what's up."

He still hadn't turned to look at me, but I saw his shoulders slump.

"I can't win." He mumbled

"What are you talking about?"

He suddenly whirled around, his face a mix of heartbreak and anger.

"I can't compete with this, I had a chance against Edward but not this."

"What the hell are you going on about Jake?" I took a few steps towards him.

"Bella," He sighed, the anger leaving his face to be replaced with sorrow. "Why did you come here?"

"I already told you I came to see you." I was getting a little annoyed now.

"And you didn't feel anything? The drive here was completely the same as any other time you've come to visit?" His eyes showed a little glimmer of hope.

I thought back to the drive and remembered the tension in my shoulders and the pulling in my chest. But when I thought about the pulling feeling it was still there. It wasn't as bad as earlier but it was still there.

"I can see it all over your face. Your heart is calling out to your other half."

I just looked at him a little surprised. Was it obvious that I felt some weird pulling in my chest? How do you even see that? What does my face look like right now?

"What?" I asked brilliantly.

"Come on Bella, you're not that stupid." He was suddenly agitated again. "Something pulled you to La Push, something you can't explain. It all started last week when you saw Leah."

"What?" I repeated my brilliant question, again.

"Jesus Bella," He was yelling now, his body shaking a bit at the emotion "Leah imprinted on you!" He hissed out between clenched teeth.

"What?..." I whispered, not really sure what to say.


	4. Yearning

Bella POV

I stood in Jake's garage, my mouth slightly ajar, staring at him. Slowly I started to smile and then laugh nervously.

"Haha, Jake, you got me." I started to laugh a bit more genuinely.

Jake stared back at me his eyes full of anger but it slowly faded to pitty.

"Bells...I'm not joking. She imprinted on you as soon as she made eye contact with you last week."

"Yeah, right. She hates me, she took off after I said sorry about her dad. I've seen the way Sam looks at Emily, Leah didn't look at me anything like that. Nice try."

I was starting to question if Jake was actually serious. I didn't like that I was actually considering it, and I started to get a bit agitated with Jake. This joke wasn't funny anymore.

"Bella," Jake's voice was soft, almost apologetic "look at me, she doesn't hate you. She hates that she's so different. She already struggled with being the only female shapeshifter." Jacob trailed off for a second, ran his hand through his hair with a sigh and leaned against a crate. "I heard her thoughts, she's trying to fight the imprint, but under all her anger I can see the imprint. Her heart is calling out to you and she can't stand that she can't do anything about it."

I stood there not able to fully hear what Jake was saying to me. I felt like I wanted to throw up but I also felt a strong tug to go to the Clearwater's.

"I'm sorry Bells, this isn't supposed to be how it happens…" He looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did too. I guess it just sucks, you know, that now it's official that we'll never be together."

I blinked at him, still dumbfounded. "But I mean…" my voice was just barely over a whisper, "you said imprints could be anything"

His face screwed up a bit and he opened his mouth like he was going to say something and then decided against it.

"Imprints could be rivals?" I asked weakly, my voice cracking in the middle of the question. My heart aching at just the thought of not being able to be close to Leah.

"That's not really how it works Bella. We don't really know why the imprint happens. Sam thinks it's so the bloodline continues but…" He trailed off probably figuring out Leah's anatomy didn't exactly work like that the same time I thought it.

"I have to go," I said curtly

"Bells, just stop for a second. This doesn't have to be a bad thing." He reached out for my arm and I quickly backed up, almost tripping backward on the door frame.

I spun around and ran from Jake's garage to my truck, not bothering to check if he was following me. I quickly jumped in and the beast of a machine roared to life. My truck complained when I threw it into drive and accelerated too quickly. Leah imprinted on me? Did I already know that? Part of me knew the answer to that was yes. I was hyperventilating and laughing hysterically. Pure joy and complete loneliness didn't mix well together, I felt like I was going a little insane. Maybe I am insane now. There was a large lump in my throat that somehow sunk into my heart, making it feel heavy. It was hard to see the road around my tears but I couldn't figure out why I was crying. Was I mad about Leah imprinting? No, part of me craved her attention, yearned for her to just hug me. The hole I felt in my chest when Edward left me was nothing compared to the heartbreak I felt right now. All of the wolf dreams were suddenly so clear now, I could see how much I craved her company now. The tugging in my chest flared aggressively at me, annoyed that I wasn't giving into it. My heart ached because Leah didn't want me. Jake told me so, she was fighting against the imprint. She was angry at the imprint for making a choice for her. A choice she didn't want. She didn't want me. My tears turned to body-wracking sobs. Why wasn't I home yet? I should have made it home by now, I just need to be in my bed. I took in the road I was on for the first time since I started driving. I was still in La Push, confused I tried to rein in my emotions a bit so I could concentrate on where I was. Surprisingly, it was pretty easy to pull myself together. The tugging in my chest was almost completely gone now. I pulled into a driveway and wiped my eyes, squinting through the rain that was coming down pretty heavily now. With a sudden start, I realized I was at the Clearwater's house. I sat up straight in my seat and stared at the vaguely familiar house, my truck still idling. I wasn't sure how much time had passed as my joy and deep sorrow fought for dominance. The front door opened and I saw Sue Clearwater step out onto the porch.

"Bella?" She yelled over the rain and my truck.

I felt my stomach drop and played with the thought of just driving away without saying anything. But she would know it was me, everyone in La Push knew Charlie bought Billy's old truck for me. And if I drove off without a word it would definitely make it to Charlie and that wasn't a conversation I wanted to have. At least that's what I told myself as I stepped out of my truck and jogged to the front porch.

"Why don't you come inside? It's pretty awful out here." Sue smiled at me warmly.

I just nodded, almost numb in shock and followed her inside. The house felt familiar and smelt great. I looked around a bit and recognized a few pieces of furniture, but a lot had changed since I was last here. Sue walked into the kitchen and I followed.

"Are you looking for Leah? I think she should be back soon." Sue smiled brightly.

Did she know? I hadn't hung out with Leah in probably eight years or more. Was it really that long since I had last seen Sue? I mentally shook myself and blushed a bit as I saw her expectant face.

"No, I uh…" I stuttered nervously "I came by thinking Charlie might be here."

My excuse was weak and I could see Sue thought so too but she didn't push it. Seth came down the hall, yelling as he did.

"Who was it, mom? Sounded like Billy's old truck" Seth's face lit up when he saw me. "Bella! How's it going?"

All I could do is stare at him. He was huge, not like Jake huge but he was only fifteen and he looked eighteen. Then I saw the tattoo. Seth followed my gaze and looked down at his arm, then back at me.

"When? What?" I turned to look at Sue, wide-eyed. DId she know? She smiled at me with a mixture of sadness and pride.

"Around the same time as Leah, but Sam keeps me home studying most of the time" He explained with a grimace.

My heart jumped at the mention of Leah's name. That had explained why I hadn't seen him around but I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My emotions were already shot from earlier so I just nodded and tried to compose myself.

"So what brings you around?" He has to know if Jake knew he must know. But was she really why I was here? Yes, I couldn't lie to myself. I just wanted her to hug me, it's all I craved. The gaping hole in my chest demanded remedy.

Before I could answer the back door opened and Leah stepped in soaking wet. Her eyes found mine instantly and I saw a brief flash of excitement, quickly replaced by disgust and anger. I took a step backward thrown off by the rejection I felt. She went to take a step forward a momentary look of concern on her face before she decided against the step.

"What are you doing here?" She practically spit from clenched teeth.

I just stared at her as the hole in my chest seemed to rip a little wider, I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself. As soon as I wrapped my arms around myself her entire body shook so violently that water was flying off her body, like a dog shaking after swimming.

"Leah." Seth sounded concerned.

She looked at him with a pained expression, turned on her heel and ran back into the rain. I stared at the back door, my arms uselessly wrapped around the hole that kept growing in my chest.

"Hey, Bella. Why don't I drive you home?" Seth offered, giving me a sympathetic look.

I just nodded and followed him out to my truck. We drove in silence and I was grateful for it, I didn't trust that I could function properly. Once I was home I went straight to my room, not bothering to change out of my damp clothes and curled up on my bed. What was happening to me? I loved Edward, why is that so hard to believe now? How could just looking at Leah make me completely change my feelings towards someone I was ready to die for? The tugging in my chest was starting to ease up slowly. I sighed in relief as it did and uncurled myself. As the tugging eased, even more, the hole in my chest seemed to heal itself a bit. I let out a content sigh again and curled up in the blankets. I was just starting to realize how emotionally drained I was. I closed my eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

I was sitting on a fallen tree with my eyes closed, I could feel a warm arm wrapped around my waist. I sighed contently, it was spitting but we must have been under the canopy of trees because I was only feeling the slight mist. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Leah's beautiful face. She turned and smiled down at me, causing my heart to flutter. She laughed lightly and tightened her arm around my waist, pulling me closer into her side. I smiled wider and tilted my head to rest my head against her shoulder, my hand coming up to rest on her thigh. I felt her cheek rest on the top of my head and I let out a content 'mmm'.

"This is nice," Leah whispered.

I nodded under her cheek, causing my hair to tickle her face. She laughed and pulled her head back up, I pouted in protest and whined: "No, Leah come back."


	5. Imprints are Complicated

Leah POV

Sam had been pretty relaxed about what patrols I had to run, he usually paired me up with Seth patrolling La Push. It was nice of him to separate me from the other guys as much as possible, but I'd never admitted it to him and never will. Seth was excited to get to patrol more but he still wasn't out there as often as me. Which was a huge bummer for both of us. Sam wanted Seth to keep a good school-work balance which meant I was stuck with one of the other pack members for patrol. Usually, I was paired with Jared because he had his own little imprint to keep his mind off mine but it didn't completely stop him from getting bits and pieces from me. I think Sam also paired me with Jared so I'd see how over the moon excited he was about his imprint. Which only further nauseated me and made me hate imprinting that much more. I couldn't complain though because I got out of Bella babysitting duty. I was never asked to patrol around her house in Forks and for that, I was eternally grateful.

Seth and I were done our patrol and he ran ahead of me, wanting me to race him. I just wasn't in the mood lately. My stomach grumbled loudly and I grit my teeth a bit at that. If this whole stupid imprint thing hadn't happened I would still be able to show my face at Emily's to grab food. Now all I got when I went there was the boys staring and trying to convince me to give in to the imprint. I'm entirely sure it's only for their benefit, they just want their own immersive, on-demand porn. Plus how did they know Bella would even want me as her girlfriend. She was so head over heels for her bloodsucker, I'd just end up as her forever single third wheel. Oh yeah, sounds like a great deal, it's amazing I haven't snatched it up as soon as I had the chance. I slowly walked through the forest as a wolf, letting my mind wander to Bella. My heart had been pulling me towards Forks almost constantly but tonight I finally got a break from the constant annoyance that was this shit imprint. This isn't hard at all, Sam is such an idiot. As soon as a woman is bound to him by magic he drops everything he had. I growled to myself and shook my large head as if to shake the thoughts out. My mind went back to Bella without my noticing. I was thinking about what she looked like before I had imprinted on her and what she looked like now. I couldn't really remember what she looked like before, we were young but I had seen pictures recently when Charlie would come to see Harry. When I compared what she used to look like and what she looked like now there was no comparison. Before she looked pale and kind of sickly, with a shy hunched in posture. But now when I saw her she looked beautifully pale, almost like a marble statue with the cutest blush. And her figure was much more...appealing, she was still shy but kind of in a sexy way. I started to wonder about what she would look like under her baggy raincoat when my train of thought was suddenly interrupted.

'Oh yeah Leah! See you just need to give in to it' Paul cheered.

I snarled, angry at him for being so quiet that I hadn't noticed his presence but more enraged at myself for letting the imprint run wild in my thoughts. I don't want to be having those thoughts about Bella, I snarled again at myself.

'Just give in already, it'll be so much easier.' Paul coaxed.

I couldn't take any more of his thoughts because they just brought me back to Bella thoughts. I was almost home anyway so I phased and pulled on my soaking wet clothes. As I walked to the back door I heard Seth ask: "So what brings you around?". I noted that someone was at the house but didn't really care who, I just had to get inside. My body was screaming to get in the house. I must be hungrier than I thought.

As soon as I stepped through the back door my eyes snapped to the deep chocolate brown ones that haunted my dreams. They were so pretty I could stare at them all night-NO! Bella took a second of looking at my face before she took a step backward, her face so distraught it hurt me slightly. I went to take a step forward, my heart telling me to run to her and wrap her in my arms and comfort her. But I caught myself and stood my ground. My anger boiled up, why can't I just keep her out of my head? I'm not going to continue the wolf bloodline so why bother with all this imprint bullshit?

"What are you doing here?" I managed to get out between a clenched jaw.

She didn't respond and just stared at me with the most hurt eyes I have ever seen. And then she wrapped her arms around her torso as if she were physically in pain. That's all I could take, I shook so violently the rain flew from my body but I couldn't leave her. She was hurting and I needed to help-no I didn't need to help she could go to her bloodsucker or Jacob for that.

"Leah" Seth said quietly, his voice full of understanding.

I looked at my younger brother. He is the only one I could trust with my full emotion. I had let him fully into my head the last week and he struggled along with me through this imprint. He knew what internal battle my body was having right now. He knew how much I didn't want to put up with it anymore. I turned on my heels and threw myself out the door, not wanting to hurt anyone if I couldn't contain myself. It was a good thing I had left too because I phased maybe a foot or two from the bottom steps of the back door.

'Don't even try to fuck with me right now Paul. I would welcome a good fight right now.'

Paul busied himself with counting the trees that had weird growths on them that looked like boobs.

I heard Seth offer to drive Bella home but I didn't hear her response. I stayed in the backyard, just standing in the rain for a long time. I only snapped out of it when I heard Seth in my head.

'Leah, you're ripping her apart…'

I paced back and forth.

'I don't fucking care let her bloodsucker glue the pieces back together.'

But Seth knew me and suddenly he was running patrol around Bella's house.

'What are you doing pup?' Paul asked, obviously confused by the change in schedule. He wasn't due to be rotated until sunrise. Plus Seth and I never ran around Bella's house.

'I want a change of scenery.' Seth said matter of factly.

'Well shit if you want my shift you can have it! Saturday night off, hell yeah.' Paul barked a laugh and suddenly he was gone.

'Thanks, I don't think I could phase back yet and I definitely wouldn't be able to if Paul was still here.' I knew Seth didn't need the praise but I would give it to him anyway because he was the only one in my corner.

'Don't thank me yet, you're taking over. I have to study for my trig test.' He said somewhat displeased.

'You're supposed to be on my side.' I huffed but ran towards Bella's house anyway.

He ran back home and I was alone again. I was thankful for being alone but I was devastated that I had to run the Bella patrol. It was nice however to have the tugging in my chest gone for once. I slowly ran my perimeter around the house trying to distract myself with mundane things. I somehow ended up listening to her breathing, it was slow and deep. She must be asleep. I wasn't sure what time it was but it was dark out. When was the last time I slept?

While trying to figure out my fucked up sleep schedule I heard the softest little "mmm" come from Bella's room. It sounded like a sigh of contentment but I hadn't smelt her bloodsucker come back yet. What was she doing up there? I looked up and down the street to make sure no one was around and then I crept out of the woods, closer to her bedroom window. I could still hear her deep even breathing so she must be dreaming. And then she mumbled: "No, Leah come back." butterflies electrocuted my body. They shot up into my throat causing an anxious lump to form, then down into the lowest pit of my stomach, and then they traveled even lower igniting a blazing fire between my legs for a quick moment. I stood there for a long time, stuck between outrage, amazement, and longing. I was pulled out of my pause when the scent of leech hit me.

I turned to the direction it was coming from just as the short, motherly one came out of the woods.  
"Oh I was expecting Paul, you must be...Seth." She smiled at me, I just continued to glare at her.

"No wait, you're Leah. It's nice to finally meet you, or I guess see you." She laughed lightly. I just huffed and turned back to the woods, the tug on my heart digging in again as I did. Stupid fucking imprint.


	6. My Little Grey Wolf

Bella POV

With a large yawn and stretch to match, I slowly opened my eyes. The light was dim and grey outside my window, I could hear the light rain against the glass.

"Morning, Love" Edward whispered into my neck.

I jumped back slightly, surprised, and a bit bothered by his cold touch.

"You're back early" I stated more than asking.

"Yes, I was worried about you so I hunted closer to home." He answered regardless.

I nodded and sat up, subtly shifting so my body wasn't so close to the cold radiating off his body.

"You shouldn't worry about me, the pack is helping cover patrols when your family goes hunting."

He noticed my not so subtle move away from him and moved to stand up with an apologetic smile. I was glad he didn't look more into the gesture. 'Should he look more into the gesture? What is he to me now? Does Leah change things? Do I want Leah to change things? Does it matter if I do want her to be something more? DID I want her to be something more?'

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asked, thick, with curiosity, interrupting my inner ramblings. "You look like you're trying to figure out a cure for world hunger."

"I'm just thinking about you" I managed, not really lying. I could feel my cheeks burning aggressively.

He smiled and sat on the edge of my bed, careful not to touch me in any way. "And what thoughts have you blushing like that?" He pressed with an amused smile now on his face.

"I have to get ready for school or we'll be late." I managed to get out with a weak smile.

"Alright, I'll be back soon." He stood and inclined his head slightly before taking his leave out my window.

I stood slowly with a relieved sigh, grabbing my towel on the way to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I turned on the shower and moved over to the sink, while I waited for the water to heat up. My hands gripped either edge of the sink and I hung my head between my arms, letting it swing limply. 'What am I doing? Why was the supernatural attracted to me? Maybe life would have been easier if I had just dated Mike Newton'. I shuddered a bit at the thought, more disturbed by the thought that he was a man than the thought of Mike himself. My head shot up and I was suddenly looking at myself in the mirror, my eyes wide in shock. I took a few shaky breaths to try to center myself again. 'Chill out this doesn't mean anything.' My eyes began to relax and return to normal along with my breathing. 'Maybe I'm a little gay…I guess I kind of knew that already, I never really dated anyone before Edward. Maybe I want Leah...' Before I could take that thought any further, knowing it would only end in pain and rejection, I undressed and hopped in the shower. The warm water felt amazing and I stood under the faucet, closing my eyes, just letting the water flow over my body. 'Would Leah be this warm? Is she as warm as Jake? Would I ever know how warm she felt?' My breathing hitched for a second as I was reminded of the rejection I had felt last night. 'No, I'll never know how warm she is, she doesn't want anything to do with me. I'll just forget her and move on with my life.' Glimpses of my little grey wolf flashed across my mind's eye and my heart begged me to reach out and touch her. I opened my eyes quickly and let the water run into them, focusing on the slight pain that caused to pull me away from my thoughts. As I continued to get ready for school I forced myself to think about Edward.

I slowly ate my breakfast and kept my thoughts on Edward, with a bit of a struggle. My mind started to break Edward down in a scientific way. 'He was 120 years old and had never dated or been interested in anyone else?' My mind huffed at that not quite believing it. 'Is this what he told other girls he was interested in? Why go through the whole charade? Why let me age and die? What did he get out of this?' I shook my head, not liking these questions I was only now asking myself. When I walked outside I knew Edward would be there waiting for me but I still jumped at the sight of him, guilty I guess. Concern or maybe pity crossed his face momentarily and then he was smiling kindly at me as he opened the passenger door. I climbed into his Volvo, he was suddenly on the driver side, both doors were closed. As soon as I buckled my seatbelt we were speeding towards school. He knows I hate when he speeds, I usually push it off but today I wasn't in the mood.

"Edward…"

"Yes, Love"

"Slow down"

He chuckled and looked over at me. Suddenly the car started slowing down, he must have seen I was serious.

"Bella, are you alright?" Concern evident in his voice.

"Keep your eyes on the road." I pleaded, looking to the road and back to him a bit panicked.

He looked like he wanted to tease me or say something but decided against it. The rest of the drive was silent but it was far from comfortable, I could almost taste the tension between the two of us. Torn between a need to fill the silence just to cut the awkwardness and the satisfaction of not having to talk to him or lie about my thoughts this morning. Once we got to school he parked and came to open my door, but he had to move at a normal speed in public. I beat him to the door and was half out of the car by the time he got to me, the corner of his mouth pulled down slightly. My body seemed to operate on autopilot once I was in class.

"That's a really good drawing." Jessica commented, half-heartedly.

I looked up, startled by her voice. What period was I in now? Time had passed without my realizing.

"Geez Bella, you don't have to wig out. All I said is that it's good." Jessica huffed and turned back to her binder doodling little hearts on the cover.

I looked down at my own binder, I had it open to an empty page-well mostly empty. In the middle of the page was a sketch of Leah's wolf's face, looking right at me. I quickly closed my binder, a bit too agressivly, slamming it loudly. A few heads turned to look at me and I quickly dipped my head, hiding behind my hair as it fell forward onto my face. My cheeks were blazing and I could feel tears building in the corners of my eyes. I closed my eyes tight, fighting the tears, hating how easily my emotions presented themselves. The teacher walked in and classes continued on as normal, thankfully. Lunch and the rest of the day were a blur of nerves and confusion. The wolves would be meeting with the Cullens to train tonight. That meant Leah would be there...right?

When Edward pulled in behind Charlie's cruiser he turned to me as the engine died.

"Bella, are you alright?" His voice strained with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I managed a small smile directed at him.

"Don't worry about tonight, no one will get hurt." He reassured, assuming my fear was from the upcoming training session. I took this, not wanting to face the truth of my frayed emotions, and nodded once. He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.

"I'll be back soon, Love. Don't worry."

I nodded again and he was suddenly opening my door. Once inside I tinkered around in the kitchen, fixing dinner, keeping basic conversation with Charlie. When dinner was finished I took my time cleaning up, knowing Edward would be upstairs waiting for me. After I was sure every surface in the kitchen could show a reflection I didn't really have a choice but to turn in for the night. I said goodnight to Charlie as I went upstairs. Edward sat in my chair, smiling kindly at me, I half-heartedly returned the smile. I stayed in my clothes but laid in bed.

"You don't have to come tonight." He tried for probably the fifth time.

"I told you I want to go." I sighed slightly agitated.

"Very well, at least try and sleep for a bit?"

I huffed and closed my eyes, feeling my blankets cover me a split second later. I couldn't sleep, a mix of Leah and her wolf swam through my mind. What seemed like an eternity later Edward gently kissed my forehead. My eyes shot open.

"Is it time?" I sat up.

He nodded and then we were running through the forest, I was on his back. I closed my eyes tight and grit my teeth, I hated running like this and wished he would give me more warning. We stopped abruptly and I peeked one eye open, seeing that we were in a clearing. I climbed off Edward's back and he interlaced his fingers in mine, leading us to his family. A few seconds later the wolves slowly came out of the forest, cautiously. My eyes automatically found the small grey wolf and my heart skipped a beat. Edward squeezed my hand gently and I looked up at him, he was smiling reassuringly.

"It'll be okay, no one is going to get hurt."

He gave my hand another light squeeze before heading off to "translate". The Cullens began their demonstrations and I watched the grey wolf, pulling my eyes away periodically to hopefully make my staring less obvious. She was tense and her eyes were intently focused on the demonstration in front of her. Her tension and focus seemed to be the most intense of all the wolves. I could see some of her muscles under the fur, firm and flexed like she was so tense all her muscles were flexed. It almost looked like her eyes were so concentrated on the fighting that she wasn't actually taking in what she was seeing. Jake's large russet coloured wolf came padding over and I looked up at him, thankful for just his familiarity. He stood close and I leaned into him, still watching my grey wolf watch the mock fights. I sighed and mindlessly ran my hand through Jake's fur, he sighed contently. That's when the grey wolf's head suddenly turned to look directly at me. Her eyes filled with longing and desperation, she took one step towards Jake and I. That's when I heard a vicious growl, suddenly Edward was between my grey wolf and I. He was crouched, ready to pounce, Jake wasn't at my side anymore, he was stalking closer to Edward's back. The grey wolf crouched down into her own pounce, exposing her teeth with a loud snarl. The rest of the pack followed her lead, causing the Cullen's to react similarly.

"Maybe that's enough training for one night" Carlisle suggested, trying to relieve the tension.

Sam's dark wolf nodded once and started backing towards the woods, the rest of the pack in sync with him, all but one. Leah. She stood her ground, ready to pounce at any second. Sam let out a low growl. Leah's wolf gave Edward one last growl and then looked past him at me. Her eyes filled with something I couldn't put a word to. It was like her eyes were a window into a beautiful future with her. Endless happiness, unmeasurable love, pure freedom. Not the hatred I had learned to expect. Edward growled aggressively and Leah looked back at him before turning and disappearing into the woods with her pack.

Carlisle moved to Edward's side, where Edward hadn't moved. Edward's eyes were still trained on the forest where the wolves had disappeared.

"Edward, what has gotten into you?" Carlisle questioned.

"Leah has imprinted on Bella," Edward said, seeming to compose himself more every second.

All eyes were on me, I blushed under the attention and squirmed a little.


	7. Angel's Voice

Leah POV

With my arms folded behind my head, I stared up at my ceiling. I couldn't sleep, it was too bright outside and I guess I had prefight jitters. Sam had told us to meet him at Emily's an hour before the fight, this afternoon. I wasn't really anxious about the fighting but more anxious about Bella getting hurt. I grit my teeth pushing that thought into the back of my mind. I listened to the world around me, the birds chirping outside, Sue in the living room pretending to watch the news, Seth's deep snores. I couldn't help feel a little jealous of Seth's ability to sleep right now. My mind was firing on a million different pistons, making me a bit dizzy. I closed my eyes with a sigh and tried to calm my mind. I thought about running as a wolf, it always calmed me to allow my wolf to take over in my mind. Trees blurred past my vision, birds took off around me, startled by the large predator moving with such speed. This wasn't a made up image this was from earlier this week, my wolf was reminding me of the "training". She was persistent and wouldn't let me wander from the memory, with a sigh I gave in and watched the memory play out. Slowly, the rest of the pack joined in the run. I could see Seth in front of me, I pulled up beside him and slowed my pace to match his, gently bumping him with my shoulder. The pack was convening on the edge of a clearing. Sam stepped out first followed by the next in command, trickling down the chain to Seth and me, we came out together. Our wolves were the most attached in the pack which made sense with our being related and all, the two were fiercely protective of each other. I could feel the pull to look away from the fighting and I knew Bella would be at the end of that pull. I tensed my entire body, digging my claws into the dirt, my jaw locked. My eyes stared forward, struggling to keep focused on the fighting. It was so much harder to fight the imprint as a wolf, the magic of it pulling more in the ancient wolf body. I watched one of the Cullens go flying into a tree and rebound back at the attacker. I couldn't even enjoy the moment I was trying so hard not to look at Bella. I could, however, see Bella through Jacob's eyes, somehow the pull was less intense through his eyes. She was looking directly at me with a look of curiosity and maybe admiration. My heart tugged in my chest but it wasn't so bad through Jacob's mind, it was a nice little loophole. Jacob started walking over to Bella and all I could do is watch through his eyes as she looked at him with a kind smile. Then she leaned into him and looked back in the direction I knew I was. I could almost feel her weight leaning against my body, I stifled a content sigh. Then she ran her hand through his fur, still looking at me. I snapped from Jacob's mind into my own unable to stop myself from looking at her. I wanted so badly to have her run her hand through my fur, to sigh softly and take comfort from me. I took a step towards her before I could stop myself.

That's when it all went south. As soon as I had looked at her I knew it was over, her bloodsucker would hear my thoughts. It was easy to hide my thoughts through Jacob's eyes because the bloodsucker had already accepted Jacob's boyish crush on Bella. It was easy to fool the leech like that, another nice loophole, but once I was in my own mind it was game over. And just like that, he was between Bella and me, ready to attack with a growl to match. I crouched, suddenly in fight mode, my lips pulled back exposing my teeth with a snarl. I could see Jacob stalking closer to Edward and felt the pack shift from recon to attack mode. I took in the other leeches moving to protect their own, we stood still waiting for them to make the first move. We wouldn't be the ones to break the treaty, Sam's orders. If it were up to me half of them would be dead by now. The doctor leech had suggested that we finish for the night and Sam agreed, cautiously backing towards the woods so he could keep an eye on the threat. The rest of the pack followed but I stood my ground, my wolf unhappy with how close the leech was to Bella. Sam's alpha command to follow pulled me back into line. I had growled once more at the bloodsucker, letting him know how much I wanted to rip him apart. But my wolf wouldn't leave yet, she made us take one more look at Bella and I hadn't had any time to prepare myself. The full weight of the imprint came to the surface and I could feel it play across my face. Before my wolf allowed any more of the imprint out I took off after the pack into the woods.

Sam had asked a million questions about what the hell had happened. The pack went over and over it a thousand times, concluding that it was the mind reader who had heard or felt my imprint on his mate-duh. I couldn't handle anymore of the reminder of it and had phased back, opting to walk back on two legs. Seth joined me in wolf form and walked alongside me. Sam had decided that only Jacob had to go to the "training" sessions because we would be able to see it through his mind later. I was thankful for that, I wasn't sure if my wolf would be able to control herself around the mind reader.

I woke with a start. Seth was shaking my shoulder while calling my name. I looked at him with wide eyes and jumped out of bed, ready for a fight. He just smiled his boyish smile at me.

"Time to head to Emily's"

"Jeez, Seth you need better bedside manners." I scolded.

We hugged our mother and reassured her we would take care of each other then went into the backyard. Once in the cover of the trees, we separated until we couldn't see each other, stripped and phased. We silently jogged to Emily's and waited in her backyard, sitting back on our haunches. Paul was already there along with Embry. There was a mix of unspoken excitement and nerves floating through everyone's minds, it was hard to pick out what one individual person was thinking. Our minds began to weave together and became the pack mind and everyone allowed it now. Usually, we fought the pack mind, not wanting all of our secrets to be open for whomever. But today we all accepted that we would need the pack mind to be able to fight flawlessly. More brothers joined us in the backyard and in the pack mind. It was an odd feeling to have so many people in your head but not really be in your own head too. Sam phased last and suddenly our merged pack mind settled in Sam's head. Eight moved as one towards the clearing that was now as familiar to us as it was to Jacob. We could feel the presence of two others but they hadn't fully meshed into the pack mind. They had their own connection as they ran their patrol around La Push, Brady and Collin. Seth separated from us when we had almost reached the clearing, to go stand watch with the mind reader, to keep Bella safe. I knew Seth wasn't happy about missing the action but I didn't hear a peep out of him now, he knew the time for complaining was over. Sam ran over strategies through our minds and we listened intently, no one said a word.

We stood silently in the shadow of the woods, ready to attack, the Cullens in the open. It didn't take long for the scent of leech to grow stronger. Sam ordered us to hold until the very last second. When the newborn bloodsuckers were on top of the Cullens we pounced. The battle was a blur of teeth and shattering leeches. It was surprisingly easy to pick out the Cullen's scent from the newborns, they didn't smell **as **bad. We were almost done with the newborns when we heard Seth. There were two with him and the mind reader. And Bella. My wolf whined wanting to protect her imprint, I cried out mentally wanting to protect my brother. I had only taken a few steps in Seth's direction when Sam ordered me to stay with the pack and fight. 'There are still too many down here, Seth and Edward will be fine.' Sam stated. I found it harder to concentrate on what I was doing, half watching through Seth's mind. When Seth hit the boulder I lashed out, angrily, ripping a newborn down into unnecessarily small pieces.

Relief washed over the pack mind as the battle came to a close and the Cullens started a large fire. Seth and Edward were already heading back with Bella, having already destroyed the two leeches and had their own fire. Seth, unbelievably smug, came to stand beside me once he reached the clearing. Our wolves greeted each other quickly, his lightly brushing my side with his torso. Seth moved on to the rest of the pack, his head held high with pride. I found myself somewhat alone, scanning across the clearing taking in the carnage we had caused here. Just then the mind reader came out of the woods not too far from me, Bella on his back. As he shifted her off his back he turned to face her and say something. That's when I saw the movement, another newborn. How had we missed him? I took less than a second to recognize that it was heading straight for Bella, the mind reader's back to it. I was the only one who was close enough to cut his path off. Just like that my wolf took over, ignoring the shouts in my mind to wait for them. My body reacted automatically and I knew I couldn't trust anyone else to protect Bella. No one else would protect her with their life as I would. Something inside me caved and I felt my world completely shift. I had somehow allowed the imprint to take over. With a jolt, I was suddenly running faster than I thought I could even go. I pounced on the newborn but he had seen me at the last second and adjusted. Something in the back of my mind said something about not taking the obvious attack. The newborn and I rolled along the ground, I snapped my teeth at him trying to get purchase on him. He was too low down my torso and I could feel him squeezing tighter and tighter. I thrashed to try and throw him from me but he had too good of a grip. I vaguely recognized that the pack was converging on my location, Jacob the closest. Then there was a loud snapping noise as the newborn tightened his grip, even more, I whined as I felt the searing pain in my side. Suddenly Jacob was flying towards me and just like that the newborn was gone. I collapsed and felt the grass on my bare skin, my human arms suddenly wrapped around myself as I tried to scream in pain. All that came out was a small wheeze. I closed my eyes tight against the pain, my ears starting to ring causing everything around me to sound muffled. I heard an angel's voice shriek my name and I gained some strength from it. I opened my eyes slowly, blackness surrounded the edges of my vision but my eyes still managed to lock onto her. She was only a few strides away from me, she was sprinting. Then Bella's face was above mine. Somewhere in my mind, I recognized ice cold hands moving along my side assessing the damage. And somewhere in the distance, I picked up words like "broken" and "set" but I didn't care what was happening. She was here.

"Bella.." I tried to say her name but it sounded so weak and quiet I wasn't sure she had heard me.

"Shhh don't talk. It'll be okay" She sobbed, a fat tear landing on my forehead.

Her hands fluttered up to my face, one brushing a strand of hair from my eyes the other resting on my cheek. I tried to reach my good arm up to touch her face but even that movement was too much. I tried to scream as the movement sent another wave of searing hot pain through my entire body. The ringing in my ears became piercingly loud and the blackness on the edges of my vision closed in until everything was black.


	8. The Split

Bella POV

All the Cullens, except Edward, were staring at me with all sorts of emotion. It ranged from pure disgust (Rosalie) to confusion (Esme), hurt (Alice), intrigue (Jasper), amusement (Emmet), and understanding (Carlisle). I shifted uncomfortably, unable to look at any of them for more than a second.

"Because we caused this, Rosalie." Edward sighed, answering an unspoken question from his adoptive sister.

"Well if the _bitch_" Rosalie sneered the word "has some weird claim on Bella why should we fight for her?"

"Rosalie, Bella is family," Carlisle stated calmly.

"Not if she's going to run with mutts now." I could feel Rosalie's glare piercing me even though I wasn't looking at her. I was too busy studying my feet.

"You don't get it, Rose," Edward said, almost defensively. I could see his body turn, too quickly, on the edge of my vision.

There was no reply except for the sound of a gentle breeze.

"I've got her," Emmet said before there was another small breeze.

"I'm taking Bella home," Edward stated and I could see his feet near mine now.

Why was he so calm? He had growled at Leah. I frowned at the memory not liking the idea of my little grey wolf getting hurt if the Cullens had decided to attack.

"Bella?" Edward asked not unkindly.

I looked up sheepishly and he had the slightest smile on his face. I didn't understand. Shouldn't he be upset? Did he want to get rid of me? And why did that thought relieve me more than hurt me?

Once we were back in my room I watched Edward closely, waiting for the outburst. He simply sat in my rocking chair and motioned for me to sit on my bed. I did just that, too dumbfounded to do much else but follow simple instruction.

"She loves you, you know?" Edward asked with a sad smile.

I just continued my brilliant stare but I could feel my cheeks burn, knowing exactly who he was talking about. Somehow it was easier to believe Edward, over Jake, when he told me about Leah's true feelings towards me.

"I guess this is fate's twisted way of answering my wish for you to stay human." He chuckled lightly. "I have to admit I'm kind of glad it isn't Jacob, although I would have prefered someone human."

I couldn't take it anymore, he wasn't making any sense. "Why aren't you like...I don't know angry or upset?" I started to ramble, not sure how to word my dismay at the lack of rejection felt. "I mean if you didn't want me anymore it would have been easy enough to leave again. But I get that you would maybe be worried-"  
"Bella." Edward interrupted my brilliance. "You don't get it. I've always wanted you to find someone that would love you as much as I do. I wanted you to find someone good for you, someone you could grow old with. Have a normal human life with." He smiled, amused with himself, now. "I did think it would have been Jacob Black and I would be lying if I said I wasn't relieved it's not him."

I sat there staring at him again, my mouth open slightly. He would let me go that easily? He cared that deeply about my human life experiences...I guess I had already known that I had just pushed it off in the past. So desperate to become a vampire I wrote off his feelings towards it. I suddenly realized I wasn't a good girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry, Edward." I managed to close my mouth again.

"Bella, this isn't something you should apologize for. It's not something either of you could have controlled." He shook his head at me.

"No, I'm sorry for how I acted in the past. I'm just now realizing how...unhealthy our relationship has been." It was my turn to shake my head, but more out of disappointment in myself.

"That's also not your fault. I'm designed to pull you in, to make you want me no matter what." He smiled his sad smile at me, again. "I was drawn to you by your scent. That's not exactly 'perfect relationship material'."

I laughed humorlessly at this, slightly frightened by the reminder that I was literally appetizing to him.

"Does this mean you're breaking up with me?" I stuttered out.

"I think it'd be best if we did break up, yes." Edward nodded once.

"But I mean an imprint can be anything…" I began to argue. More scared of being completely alone than I was about losing Edward.

"Bella, I felt how she feels about you." His smile was sadder than before. "From my understanding, the wolf's emotions change to match the imprint's."

I blushed deeply, feeling something squirm deep inside me.

"How can she change if I haven't even decided what I want?" I furrowed my brows, slightly agitated at the idea of being told what I want.

"That's not something I can answer. Maybe you should try talking to the tribal elders."

I thought this over for a second. I would feel weird asking Billy, I don't know how much of our conversation would make it back to Jake. Plus it would almost be like asking my Dad for relationship advice. Relationship advice about dating a woman. I couldn't really go to Sue, could I? Could I ask Sue about imprints without it being weird?

"You should try and get some rest, you look tired," Edward suggested as he stood.

"Do-do you think you could still stay?..." I trailed off, feeling stupid for asking. But my fear of the newborns overpowered my embarrassment.

A look of surprise crossed Edward's face but he nodded, possibly reading the fear on my face. He settled back into the rocking chair, his face a blank mask with the tiniest bit of pity. I sighed and grabbed my PJs, tiptoeing across the hall to the bathroom. I changed and brushed my teeth as quietly as I could, frowning at the circles under my eyes in the mirror.

The following week passed in a blur of self-exploration and questions. None of which I could answer. I was a mess of nerves when Edward and I arrived at the clearing, prefight. Jake carried me up to the mountain and I looked up at his face, trying to read the emotions on it. Excitement? Regret? Sorrow? I sighed and watched the forest as it passed beside us. Once Jake stepped into a small clearing I noticed the tent and modest fire. Jake set me down and just like that he was gone. By the time I turned to talk to him, he had already disappeared from sight into the green foliage.

"He's confused," Edward explained. "He still feels attached to you, romantically, but knows it's wrong to feel that way about someone's imprint. He doesn't like it and doesn't understand it."

I nodded numbly, a bit cold already. I moved close to the fire, holding my hands out to it and sinking my face deeper into my parka.

The night in the tent passed painstakingly slow, my body exhausted from the violent shivering. Or at least I thought the night was painstakingly slow until the fight had started. Seth had joined us in the morning and was relaying the fight to Edward, blow by blow. Or I guess Edward was seeing it for himself. Suddenly, they both spun to face the same direction. Confused I turned in the same direction, staring into the trees seeing nothing. It took a few moments but once I saw that red hair I suddenly understood. She had found me. Seth and Edward weren't beside me anymore, they were fighting Victoria and some other vampire. I couldn't see what was happening, just a blur here and there, some fur and red hair. I tried to watch, my stomach begging me to look away. I was going to puke. Then Seth's wolf hit a rock face near me, he went limp and I couldn't tell if he was dead or not.

"Seth!" I screamed.

Victoria and the other vampire I could now see was the missing boy from Seatle, Riley, had Edward. They had him in a headlock and he couldn't break free. I had to help him, or we were all dead. I looked around frantically the story of the third wife echoing in my mind. My eyes landed on a sharp rock fragment and it all clicked. I cut my arm open, giving Edward the advantage he needed. Everything was blurs of movement again and my vision was getting fuzzy. I vaguely recognized Seth's wolf getting up and relief washed over me. Edward's hands were working at my arm and I felt a slight pressure as he bandaged me up, I assumed. I couldn't take my eyes off the strange smoke that was billowing off the fire the two had started, Seth, throwing marble chunks into it.

"It's over, we can go now," Edward said softly.

I just nodded not really paying attention. The fight was over? Was everybody okay? Did I want to know the answer to that? Were Leah and Jake okay? I allowed myself to be hoisted onto Edward's back noticing Seth come up beside us just before I shut my eyes tightly. I could feel the cold wind whipping against my face and figured Seth was running alongside us. Suddenly the wind stopped and I was no longer pressed against the cold marble. I opened my eyes and saw that Edward was looking at me.

"What was that back there?" He asked concerned and a bit agitated.

I didn't answer I saw my little grey wolf and large russet wolf, both safe. And then my little grey wolf was a grey blur, I couldn't believe how fast she was, my mind could barely process the movement. And then she was rolling and snapping her teeth. My heart sank into my stomach, there was a newborn on her back squeezing her. She thrashed violently, the newborn still attached to her. I could see blurs of fur moving towards her from every direction. Jake was the closest and jumped right at Leah, but it was too late. I heard the sickening snaps and my heart broke as she whined in pain. My feet started sprinting towards her, automatically. Jake had the newborn and was joined by his brothers, ripping it apart. Leah was laying in the grass, naked and human, where the grey wolf was a second ago. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her mouth open in agony, eyes squeezed shut. Seth was human now, shorts on and a large t-shirt in his hands. He gingerly laid it on top of Leah's torso, in an attempt to cover her up, as he knelt down by her.

"LEAH!" I shrieked, almost at her side.

Her eyes opened, weakly, and she looked dazed but she still managed to find my eyes instantly. The pack was shifting back to human, putting shorts on, and crouching by her. Carlisle was already assessing the injuries. I collapsed on my knees right by her face, the pack had already made room for me. I looked down at her, panicked.

"The bones on the right half of her body are shattered. I need to set her bones before the accelerated healing kicks in. It's already starting" Carlisle was explaining, probably for the pack's benefit.

My stomach dropped even further, I felt like I wanted to vomit.

"Bella…" She whispered so quietly if I hadn't been watching her face I wouldn't have noticed.

"Shhh don't talk. It'll be okay" I sobbed, tears rolling down my face uncontrollably.

A tear landed on her forehead my hands hovered over her face for a second, afraid I'd hurt her. Then I brushed a piece of hair from her eyes, my other hand resting on her cheek, my body needing to have contact. Her left arm moved to touch the hand on her cheek but it fell just as quickly as it had lifted. Her face twisting into a silent scream again then she was completely limp.

"What happened?!" I looked up at Carlisle, wild with panic.

"She's likely passed out from the pain," He explained then turned to Sam "This would probably be the best time to move her."

"We'll bring her back to Sue's" Sam nodded at Carlisle.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Carlisle stood.

The pack, all human now, very carefully lifted Leah up onto their shoulders. They disappeared into the forest, carrying her limp body. I watched after them and then just watched the woods they had disappeared into. I wanted so desperately to go with them, I couldn't stand being apart from Leah. Something had changed as soon as she attacked that newborn. I had felt my heart shift somehow and I knew 100% that Leah was mine and I wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: Thanks to KnowledgeRobot for all the reviews, it's great having such supportive feedback.


	9. Do over

Bella POV

I took long, purposeful, breaths trying to keep all emotion off my face. Edward stood at my side, protectively, his family not far from me. Esme and Carlisle stood in front of a young looking newborn, who was called Bree. The Volturi guard approached, Jane taking the lead a menacing smile playing across her face. The Cullens spoke to the guard but I couldn't focus on the conversation, my stomach sick with worry. The pull in my chest stronger than it had ever been. I was slightly agitated that I had to stay in the clearing to continue this charade for the benefit of the Volturi. My mind understood that we had to do this, mostly for my own safety, but my heart protested insisting it was unimportant when Leah was so hurt.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the guard murdered the newborn, Bree. Shocked, I looked up at Jane a mischevious smile spread across her face.

"Caius will be interested to know she's still human."

I shuddered under her gaze but didn't break eye contact with her. The guard left just as swiftly as they had arrived. As soon as I couldn't see them anymore I silently turned to Edward, looking up at him pleadingly. He held up a finger in a "wait" motion, listening to the Volturi's thoughts to make sure they were really gone. We stood like that for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he nodded and I was on his back. We were running through the forest and I knew we were running towards La Push because the pulling in my chest was slowly letting up. I snuck a peek and saw Carlisle running alongside us, a large medical bag in hand. I briefly wondered where he had gotten that from. We were met by Jake at the border, Carlisle and Edward stopped.

"Sam said only Carlisle," Jake explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Edward just nodded and set me down, I didn't have time to protest about my human legs being too slow because Jake was already walking towards me. When he closed the few steps between us he crouched, waiting for me to jump on his back. I hastily hopped on and he piggybacked me towards the Clearwater's, Carlisle taking off ahead of us.

"Jake, hurry up!" I fidgeted on his back, impatiently.

"Bells, you're not going to want to be there while the doctor works." He said solemnly.

"Yes, I will!" I protested, squeezing my legs tighter around him.

He sighed "She doesn't want you there while the doctor works." He admitted, "I promised I'd keep you away until the doctor left."

My face scrunched up, I tried to figure out if I was hurt by her not wanting me there or relieved I wouldn't have to see all the medical stuff. Jake stopped jogging and crouched so I could slide off his back. I did just that and took a deep breath, looking around. We were in the woods, god knew where. I spun in a circle and felt the pull in my chest quite down slightly when I faced a certain direction. I spun again, slower trying to narrow down which direction would lead me to Leah.

"What are you doing Bella?" Jake chuckled lightly.

I shushed him and closed my eyes, spinning even slower. There! I took an experimental step forward, trying incredibly hard to focus on the pull in my chest. It seemed less intense, I took another unsure step in the direction, then another.

"Seriously, Bella what are you doing?" Humour went from his voice.

That was all I needed as confirmation, my eyes shot open and I sprinted. I crashed through the woods, getting whipped in the face by branches, my hands and arms getting scraped by sharp bark and thorns. I heard Jake mumble a curse under his breath and he was quickly in front of me, his hands held up in front of him. I swerved around him, rebounded off a tree and continued my sprint. Mud splashing up as I stamped through a fairly deep puddle, my feet soaking instantly and my jeans more than likely getting coated. I almost fell face first into the puddle but a strong hand caught me before I did.

"Bella," Jake said exasperated. "I'll take you, just try not to kill yourself on the way there."

We began walking in the direction I had been sprinting, I smirked to myself momentarily. Jake had to keep catching me as I tripped on the thick underbrush, I suspected he was taking me through a path with the most obstacles to slow me down. When we finally exited the forest into a grass backyard, I instantly knew where I was without the assistance of the small tug in my chest. The backyard wasn't a huge part of my childhood but I recognized, the now deteriorating, tree house. I vaulted the familiar steps of the back deck, two at a time. The back door was unlocked, as I knew it would be. Who needed to use locks when both your kids were giant wolves? I burst into the kitchen, panting a bit, almost colliding with Sam's large body. The whole pack was crammed into the tiny house, most of them in the living room watching the news. Sam was in the kitchen making what looked like an entire loafs worth of PB&J sandwiches with Sue. Sue looked up at me and gave a small smile.

"She's been asking for you," Sue stated with a bit more of a smile.

Leah couldn't be that bad if Sue wasn't super distraught. I took small comfort in this, but I needed to see her for myself. I didn't need directions to Leah's room and a small part of me wondered if it still looked the same as when we were children.

I stopped just outside the door to take a moment to brace myself for the worst. I could hear Seth's excited voice on the other side of the door and I momentarily wondered if I had too much confidence in my memory.

"And then what?" Leah's weak voice questioned.

"Oh man! I ripped his entire hand off, then he started crying to the red-headed one." Seth laughed.

I heard Leah start to laugh but it quickly stopped. I knocked on the door and Seth called for me to come in. I saw Leah laying on her bed, her legs under a thin sheet. She was wearing a sports bra and I could see the tight white bandages wrapped around the majority of her torso. Her right arm wrapped in the same white bandages snuggly wrapping it to her body.

"Oh god, Leah." I could feel tears threatening to fall.

I stumbled over to her bedside and collapsed to my knees, looking more closely at everything.

"Snot that bad" She slurred and smiled, dazed at me.

I looked over at where Seth was sitting in a desk chair, on the other side of Leah's bed, one eyebrow raised.

"The doctor gave her _a lot_ of morphine, said it'd burn off pretty fast with her body temperature but he didn't want her to hurt too much when he rebroke the bones."

I felt the colour drain from my face. "Carlisle rebroke the bones?" I swallowed hard.

Leah grabbed my hand with her left and shook her head. "It's fine it hurt so little." She looked at me with such a brilliant smile my breath hitched. She was suddenly concerned and watched me, my breathing slowly returning to normal. Then she lifted our connected hands, moving them closer to her face, her face twisting in confusion. I could see the bandage on my arm was poking out from under my shirt a bit. I tugged at my shirt trying to cover it up but Leah had already seen it. She released my hand and I held my arm above her body not wanting to let it fall. She pulled my sleeve back to expose the crude wrapping around my arm, a blood-soaked strip from Edward's shirt. I pulled my arm away from her, pulling the sleeve back down. Leah began shifting her weight to try and sit up, her face pure pain.

"What happnd? Are you okay?" She slurred between her clenched teeth.

"Oh god, Leah don't move!" I went to push her shoulders back down but Seth had beat me to it.

"What happnd? Seth shtop." She was swatting at his hands with her one good arm, still trying to get up.

"I'll tell you if you lay down again" I begged.

She let out a shaky sigh and allowed Seth to help her lay down again, wincing the whole time. Seth looked down at Leah and then at me. Without a word, he moved towards the door then turned back to look at me when he was in the doorway.

"If she gets too restless just call for help, I'll come back" He nodded once at me and left, closing the door behind him.

Leah motioned at the chair Seth had left behind and then waved her good arm in the air beside her bed. I stood, my knees a little stiff, and rolled the office chair over to where I had been kneeling. I sat in it and lowered it as far as it would go. Once I was settled in Leah raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed and started explaining the fight to her and how I had cut my arm open.

"But half of your body is broken, you shouldn't be worried about me" I sighed looking over her bandaged torso again.

She was just frowning at me with half-shut eyes, she looked exhausted.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Leah?"

"No, I missed too mch time wth you" She was having trouble with her words now, half of them mumbled.

"You're stuck with me now, I'm not planning on going anywhere" I laughed a little amazed that she could even think I would leave.

"No, before dah fight" She shook her head defiantly. "I'm Leeeah" She drawled her name.

"I know" I laughed loudly, wondering just how much morphine Carlisle had given her.

Her eyes cleared a bit and she smiled, admiringly, at me.

"You have a pridy laugh" Her eyes starting to droop again.

I could feel my face flush, not used to such intense attention.

"I wanna stert over" She furrowed her brows at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Wanna meet you do over" She almost looked offended.

"How about tomorrow?" I suggested, seeing her struggle to keep her eyes open.

"Kay" She said softly, her eyes closing. "I, you pretty good" Leah mumbled.

I had no idea what she was trying to tell me and didn't really have a chance to ask. I could hear her breathing, low and even, now. I admired Leah's sleeping face, it was so peaceful and beautiful when it was relaxed like this. That strand of hair was in her eye again and I lightly brushed it out of her face. Her hair was so silky smooth I ran my hand all the way through it. Leah sighed a content 'mmm' in her sleep and I couldn't help smile a little to myself. I ran my fingers through her hair again, letting my mind wander a bit as I continued to stroke her head. This felt so right, to be close to Leah, to run my hands through her hair. I yawned and glanced at the clock on her nightstand, 9 pm. I guess my adrenaline rushes and the little sleep I had the night before was catching up to me. I reluctantly stopped stroking Leah's hair and leaned back in the office chair, slumping down a bit in it. Watching Leah's sleeping face I could feel the tiniest smile pull at the corners of my mouth. I crossed my arms across my stomach and yawned again. I slumped even lower into the chair and glanced at the clock again, 9:48 pm. God, time flew when I was around Leah. I closed my eyes and my mind began showing me my little grey wolf. My little grey wolf had become my mind's favourite image to dream about.


	10. Imprints Aren't That Complicated

Leah POV

My breathing caused mild irritation on the right side of my torso. The previous day flashed across my closed eyes and I was reminded of the newborn squeezing me until he broke almost every bone on the right side of my body. My hearing took in the deep breathing that I knew was Bella. I slowly opened my eyes, wondering where she was. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the bright morning light but once they did I easily found Bella. She was slumped in my office chair, arms crossed on her stomach, her head slumped so far forward it almost touched her chest. I frowned speculating about how uncomfortable she must be sleeping like that. Incredibly slowly I turned my body so almost all my weight was on the left side of my body. Then I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position. It hurt a decent amount and I bit my lip, but it was nothing like what I had felt yesterday. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed so I was fully sitting up without any support from my pillows. I stood and tested the range of motion I had, pretty restricted by the wrappings and pain. I managed to move my head around with no problem, breathing still hurt a bit and I figured there were a few fractures still healing. I can't pick Bella up like this without waking her but I can't let her sleep like that, she'll get a wicked kink in her neck if she doesn't already have one.

"Seth?" I said just above a whisper, hearing him in the living room.

I heard movement as he stood from the couch and started down the hall to my room.

"Quiet, she's still sleeping" I whispered, thankful for our sensitive hearing. I wasn't sure how deep of a sleeper Bella was.

Seth slowly opened my bedroom door and crept in. I could see him assessing me and I instinctively put up a mask so he wouldn't see any true emotion. He sighed at that but nodded his head up once in a greeting.

"Can you move her to the bed?" I whispered again, motioning to Bella then my bed.

"Yeah, no problem" He responded just as quietly.

Seth very slowly scooped Bella up into his arms, she stirred a bit but didn't wake. He shifted her into my bed, where I had pulled back the sheets. As he released her and stepped back I fully took in what condition she was in. She had small scratches all over her face and hands like she had been running through the forest. Which would make sense with all the small twigs and leaves tangled into her hair. She had mud all over the bottom of her jeans and her shoes were so coated I couldn't tell what colour they were supposed to be.

"Thanks. What happened to her? She didn't look like this at the clearing." I turned to look at Seth, still keeping my voice low.

"I dunno. You need anything else?"

He was assessing me again and I shook my head. He didn't look completely convinced but he knew better than to try and argue with me. Seth left my room and closed the door behind himself, quietly. I turned back to Bella and sighed lightly. She was in rough shape, her clothes were dirty and probably uncomfortable. I moved to the foot of the bed and started unlacing her shoes, mud cracking and falling off as I did. It was a bit difficult to get her shoes off with one hand but I managed. Her socks were a lot easier to get off and I found that they were still a bit damp. She sighed and stretched out once her shoes and socks were off, rolling onto her side. I pulled up the sleeve of her flannel a bit to examine the crude wrapping around her arm. I frowned and grit my teeth when I saw that it was caked with dried blood. It had been so saturated in her blood that blood had started running down her arm, soaking into her shirt. I wanted so badly to get her out of the muddy, blood-soaked clothing but I knew that that would be inappropriate. I settled for pulling my sheets up over her and tucking her in a bit. I frowned and tried to remember what I had done with my blanket. Since phasing I hadn't used it but I wanted to make sure Bella was warm enough. Looking around my room I decided my closet was the best bet. As I walked to the closet Bella mumbled something in her sleep I couldn't quite understand and I couldn't help smile to myself. I opened the closet and started looking through it, as quietly as I could manage with only one arm. As I looked for my blanket I started pulling out old clothes I hadn't worn since I phased. I pulled out an old t-shirt, hoodie and sweatpants that no longer fit me. Leading up to phasing for the first time I started growing, again, which I hadn't understood I was way past puberty. I also grabbed a pair of extremely fuzzy socks and then I stared at my underwear and bras. 'Do I give her undergarments? Would that be too weird? If I did which ones do I give her? If I give her granny panties will she think that's what I wear? Would she want boy shorts? Do I try and find the rare pair of lacy thongs?' My mind started to wander while trying to figure out the underwear situation. Bella was wearing the hoodie and sweat pants my hands on her hips, pulling her into my body. My eyes lost focus as my fantasy took dominance over my reasoning about underwear. She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled up at me, mischievously, I could feel my face return a smug smile. One thumb pushed the waistband of the sweat pants down low enough to expose her hip bone. She raised a challenging eyebrow at me and I could feel my smile widening. My thumb caressing her exposed hip bone, grazing a bit of lace. Bella's face faulted from sure mischief to a bit of desperation and her fingers started playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. My other hand started to slowly pull the sweat pants lower down her body, exposing half of the lacy underwear. Bella closed her eyes and bit her lower lip, her face only portraying desire. I could feel my own desire rising as butterflies rose into my throat and down between my legs, stirring a hot fire. I looked down taking her in, the sweat pants were barely held up by her thighs and I could see all of the underwear and what little it covered.

"Leah are you okay?" A groggy voice asked, full of concern.

I jumped, suddenly pulled out of my fantasy. I was still standing in the doorframe of my closet, my left hand gripped the doorframe tightly and as I loosened it I saw I had dented the wood a bit.

"Leah?" She asked again, more awake and more concern.

I turned around to face her, my mind half expecting to see her half naked in the hoodie and thong. I could feel my face burn a bit and I cleared my throat not sure how well my voice would work.

"Yeah, I'm completely fine." My voice was a bit husky and I cleared my throat again, feeling a bit of pain object on my right side.

Bella didn't look completely convinced and she slid out of bed, looking down at her feet a bit confused. She quickly moved on from her feet and she started walking towards me, concern all over her face.

"What are you doing out of bed? You should still be on bed rest." She was right in front of me now, her eyes sweeping over my torso evaluating the wrappings. Her eyes sweeping over my body sent another hot jolt between my legs and I gulped. She took my left hand and looked back up at my face so much concern on it my body shifted from being aroused to a bit of heartbreak. I didn't want her to worry like this. My body couldn't completely control itself when she touched me though, there was still a desire to pleasure her. To make her completely forget about her troubles.

"I really am fine, nothing but a little bruised today. I'll be completely healed by tomorrow." I reassured her as she tried tugging my arm back towards the bed.

I held my ground and she stopped, turned back to face me and frowned.

"I thought you might want a hot shower and some clean clothes…" I motioned towards my closet.

She released my hand and I had to stop myself from reaching back out to take it again.

"That would actually be great right about now" She smiled kindly at me.

I turned back to my closet and grabbed the t-shirt, hoodie and sweat pants. I decided to grab a pair of boy shorts at the last second and then turned around handing the bundle of clothing to Bella's waiting arms. She beamed a brilliant smile at me and I beamed right back, her smile contagious.

"I'm going to go shower, you lay down" She stated cheerily.

"I'm really fine-"

"Please?" She pleaded her face shifting into a heartbreaking puppy dog pout.

"Fine, only if you'll let me redress your arm once you're done" I raised a challenging eyebrow at her, daring her to try and argue.

"Deal" She huffed and started towards my bedroom door but stopped before opening it.

She turned her head to look at me, squinting accusingly.

"Okay, okay I'm going" I chuckled and held up my left-hand defensively as I walked over to my bed and sat down.

She narrowed her eyes even more, but I could see her trying to fight back a smile.

"Such a slave driver" I laughed, trying not to show the pain it caused, and laid down in my bed.

She smiled at me triumphantly at me before taking her leave to the bathroom.

"Just use the black towel and there should be a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet" I yelled after her.

I heard the water start up and smiled contently to myself. I could get used to waking up with her. Then I frowned. I was getting too ahead of myself. We aren't even dating, she's still dating that bloodsucker. Would she even want to date me? Wasn't this how imprints work? I only feel romantically for her because she feels that way about me? Who knows female shapeshifters aren't even supposed to be a thing. Who's to say my imprint follows the rules? Maybe whatever fucked up genetic that caused me to phase messed up the imprint too. I need to calm down and take things slowly. I tried taking my mind off of Bella and I started to wonder how the hell I was supposed to shower. I sighed I suppose I could shower with the bandages and sports bra on. That idea made me frown, wet sports bras were so uncomfortable. I should be pretty well healed by tomorrow, I guess I could go a day without showering. I vaguely recognized the water to the shower turning off and I could hear movement in the bathroom, the shower curtain pulling back, thick fabric moving. My mind suddenly showing me an image of Bella with wet hair, wrapped in nothing but a towel, just on the other side of the hallway from me. I swallowed hard and tried, not too hard, to shake the image from my mind. More fabric ruffled, the squeaky hinge on the medicine cabinet creaked. It was silent for a moment and then I heard a package opening followed by the sound of Bella brushing her teeth.

Bella came into my room and smiled shyly at me, I fought the urge to sit up right away wanting her to see me laying down like instructed. She had her dirty clothes bundled in her arms with her used towel. I sat up and motioned to my laundry hamper in the corner, she blushed and quickly turned to put her clothes away.

"Thank you" She mumbled.

"No problem"

I watched her back, taking everything in. My clothes were baggy on her, even though they were from before I phased. She looked so cute and tiny in my old clothes. She had rolled up the bottoms of the sweat pants so she wouldn't trip on them but she left the hoodie as it was. When she turned around to face me I didn't have enough to compose my expression.

"What?" She blushed, reaching a hand up to her hair, pushing it behind her ear. The hoodie sleeve only allowing her fingers to poke out of the end.

"Nothing, you just look a lot better" I cleared my throat, fearing that didn't come out properly.

"Come sit down and I'll check out your arm" I instructed, patting my bed before standing up.

"You don't have to worry about it...I'll deal with it later" She stammered as the colour drained from her face.

"C'mon we made a deal" I half teased.

She gave me a weak smile and sat where I had just been sitting. I quickly grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom and returned to see Bella looking a bit ill.

"Are you okay?" I rushed over and placed the first aid kit on the bed, sitting close to her.

"I uh, I don't really like blood...or really anything medical…" She admitted quietly.

"You don't have to watch, I promise I'll be fast" I reassured, placing my left hand on her knee to comfort her.

I heard her heart accelerate as soon as I touched her knee and her breathing hitched before returning to normal. I smiled slyly at her, my ego boosted. She blushed and looked away from me, her heart still racing a bit. I started pulling up the sleeve of the hoodie and she helped, still purposely looking away from me. She still had the old blood-soaked bandage on, which I could now see was just a ripped piece of fabric. It was soaking wet from her shower and I felt pity for her, she was too scared to even take it off. I very carefully used my one good hand and my teeth to untie the fabric, swiftly throwing it in my wastebasket.

"Damn it…"I cursed under my breath.

"Is it bad?" Her voice was strained.

"Yes-Well no, it's not that bad of a cut you won't need stitches. But if Sam had let me come and help this would have never happened." I grit my teeth in anger while rummaging through the first aid kit.

"I wish you were there too…" She trailed off in thought.

My heart fluttered at that confession, my anger completely forgotten. I pulled out the alcohol swabs and frowned.

"This is going to hurt" I warned her, looking up at her face.

She nodded, still not looking at me. I tried to move as fast as I could while still being thorough, I didn't want her getting any sort of infection. The water from the shower had washed away all the clotted blood, leaving only the jagged skin and open cut. She sucked in air between her teeth as the alcohol stung the fresh wound but she didn't complain. I applied polysporin generously and then laid down gauze on the gash. I dug around in the first aid kit some more and found a roll of bandage. When I looked up again Bella was watching me with a weak smile. I smiled back and tried to wrap her arm but it proved almost impossible with only one working hand. Bella reached out with her other hand and held the start of the bandage for me. With her help, I was able to quickly wrap her arm up and tape the end.

"Thank you, this looks way less scary" She smiled wider now and my heart soared excited to know I had made her feel good.

"Any time. Hey, are you hungry?" To emphasize my question my stomach growled.

Bella laughed, obviously hearing my stomach, and I joined her, her laughter contagious.

"Yeah, I could eat. But please let me cook. If memory serves you're terrible at cooking" She started laughing all over again as she stood.

"What? That's not fair I've grown a lot since you last saw me" I half protested, laughing along with her.

"I don't know, those anchovy pancakes were pretty bad" She raised an eyebrow at me, challenging me playfully.

"Fine, I'll start a load of laundry" I playfully pouted at her "But just because _you _can't appreciate my culinary genius doesn't mean my cooking is bad"

"Oh yeah, such culinary ingenuity" She snickered, sticking her tongue out at me as she showed herself out of my room and down the hall towards the kitchen.

I continued laughing and grabbed my laundry hamper, dragging it along the floor with my one working arm. When I got to the washing machine I looked into the hamper to grab the clothes. I loaded in Bella's muddy jeans, the towel and then I stopped dead in my tracks. My mind broadcasting to me that Bella wasn't wearing a bra. It started to wander towards more perverted thoughts. I quickly shoved the rest of the laundry in the washing machine, trying to quiet my perverted mind down.

"Nice and slow, Leah" I scolded myself.

I walked into the kitchen and Bella was just pouring pancake batter into a hot skillet. I smiled to myself.

"Your mom left a note on the table, said she took Seth to help her with groceries" Bella explained, not turning to look at me as she spoke.

"Excellent, that means we can eat breakfast on the couch and watch tv" I grinned at her and waggled my eyebrows as she turned to look at me.

"You're such a kid" Bella laughed turning back to her pancakes.

"I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you" I sang the old rhyme from our childhood.

Bella started laughing hysterically, almost spilling batter on the counter. I laughed with her, powering through the pain in my side, moving to help her cook. Still laughing Bella swatted at my hand trying to help her and motioned me away.

"Ah! You're right, we need the anchovies" I moved towards a random cupboard looking at her over my shoulder, slyly.

"NOOO!" She shreik-laughed.

Bella made a huge stack of pancakes and we ate in front of the tv, watching some hallmark movie. Once we finished eating she grabbed our plates and ran them to the kitchen before I could protest. When she came back she sat a bit closer to me and I couldn't help feeling like it was on purpose. We watched in silence but I was having trouble following the cheesy plot, distracted with inner conflict. 'Do I put my arm around her shoulders? Do I hold her hand? Do I pull her in and have her lay her head on my lap?' Do I rest my hand on her leg? Bella shifted her position so her legs were pulled up onto the couch, tucked under her. This caused her to move even closer to me, another inch and our shoulders would be touching. 'Did she want to be close? Did she want me to make a move on her? Should I? I want to. What about her bloodsucker would this complicate things for her?' Bella sighed lightly and that was all I needed as encouragement. I shifted to put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the left side of my body, protectively. Her heart skipped a beat and then she sighed contently. Her right arm gingerly came up to rest on my stomach and she relaxed her head so it was leaning on my shoulder. We continued watching the movie like this, every once in awhile Bella's fingers would idly trace random patterns on my bare stomach, causing goosebumps to form.


	11. Better Than A Dream

Leah POV

The patrol was taking ages I couldn't stand it. How long had it been now? I glanced up at the sky, trying to locate the sun through the rain clouds. With a frustrated huff, I gave up on the stupid La Push weather. I pushed myself a bit harder, almost in a sprint now, as I ran the border of La Push.

'Hey, calm down. You're supposed to be taking it easy' Jared scolded me when I pulled away from him.

'You're not my Alpha, I'll do what I want' I sneered at Jared, hating that the guys still treated me like I was some delicate flower that needed to be protected all the time.

I'm just as tough as any of them and I'm faster than all of them. I made sure that that thought was easily heard through the pack mind, knowing Jared couldn't ignore it. Jared continued to run his patrol with me in silence as I slowly put more and more distance between us. It had been three days since Bella had left my place, but we had been talking to each other constantly on the phone or by text. I hadn't wanted to rush her or seem clingy so I didn't invite her back to La Push and managed to stop myself from dropping too many hints that she should come to visit. But she had asked if she could come to visit today after school. Just the thought of her visiting had me excited all over again, giving me a burst of energy I ran even faster. Sam had been more than okay to rearrange my shift so that he would relieve me just in time to meet her when she got out of class.

'I mean it's pretty close to shift change, if you were to take off a bit early I wouldn't tell…' Jared offered, almost playfully.

'Thanks, I guess' I said a little surprised.

'Hey, I get it too' As Jared said it I was hit with his own excitement to finish his shift so he could go see Kim.

'Thanks' I said again, changing course back to my house.

Before I had started my shift I had filled an old shopping bag with clothes that were a little more appropriate for being out in public. I was glad I had tied the top closed, hoping this meant they stayed relatively dry. I picked up the handles of the bag in my muzzle and began sprinting towards forks, through the forest.

'Gee Leah, excited much?' Jared teased, getting a head full of my girly excitement.

'Whatever' I responded too excited to fill the word with my regular hatred.

My wolf pushed even harder, knowing her way to her imprint, into a flat out sprint. The forest blurred past me and I could feel my wolf stirring, trying to push us even harder. What seemed like an eternity passed before I heard the sounds of a school in session in the distance. I had to fight my wolf for a split second before I could skid to a stop, she wanted to keep going, witnesses be damned. I phased and pulled on the clothes I had packed, white t-shirt, blue skinny jeans, black leather jacket, and black Nike sneakers. I folded the plastic bag and shoved it in a pocket in my jacket and started walking through the forest, towards the school. As I exited the forest the rain fell a bit harder, not having to fight the trees before reaching me. I mentally kicked myself for not packing an umbrella or rain jacket, as a normal person would have. I stopped on the sidewalk by the parking lot, knowing that Bella would come this way to get to her truck, picking up her scent from this morning when she went into the building. I noticed a small puddle and looked at my reflection in it, self consciously pushing back my soaking wet hair. A small chunk falling back forward as soon as I did, I huffed at its inability to conform to my will. Before I could fuss over my hair some more the bell went off signalling the end of the day. I shifted excitedly and then mentally shook myself. I needed to calm down, take it nice and slow. I moved slightly off the sidewalk and leaned up against a bench, crossing my arms, and watched the front doors of the school. It seemed like millions of students poured out of the doors before I saw her. She was walking with two other girls, one talking animatedly, and one guy who looked at her quite affectionately. I grit my teeth at that but was quickly pulled away from him to look back at Bella. She was holding an umbrella and I could see she was wearing my old hoodie, looking cute as ever in it. When Bella was a few steps out of the building her eyes slowly shifted over to where I was leaning and they lit up.

"Leah!" She shouted excitedly as she ran over to me.

I laughed and shoved off the bench, walking towards her closing the distance. Bella threw her arms around me, almost hitting me in the head with her umbrella. I hugged her back and over her shoulder noticed her friends walking towards us, the boy watching carefully. I couldn't help myself, I picked Bella up and spun her around in a few circles. She let out a small "ekk" but laughed regardless and I couldn't help laughing along. I knew I had to let her go when her friends caught up to her but I kept close. Bella took her time looking me up and down before returning back to my eyes. I smiled a bit smugly at her and got a blush in return.

"You're looking good-better! You look a lot better" She stammered out, blushing deeper.

"Thanks, you look pretty good yourself" I grinned, loving her blush. "That's a pretty sweet hoodie" I added as I took her umbrella, holding it over both of us, but mostly over her.

Bella blushed a deep red and I could hear her heart speed up a bit. Bella and I looked away from each other and at the boy when he cleared his throat. I frowned but Bella began introductions.

"Oh. This is Angela," She gestured at the girl with the camera around her neck who nodded at me shyly. "Jessica," The girl who had been talking animatedly tried to smile at me but I could see she was fighting to keep curiosity and fear off her face. "And Mike." The boy extended his hand and smiled at me, curiosity evident on his face.  
"Leah" I stated, taking Mike's hand our eyes meeting easily, he was only about an inch taller than me.

I could feel Mike trying to squeeze my hand as tightly as possible. I tried to stifle the sly grin that threatened to expose me as I squeezed his hand back as we shook. His face changed from curiosity to poorly hidden pain and I had to convince myself to release his hand. I turned back to Bella and tuned back into the conversation the girls were having. Bella was explaining we had been friends as children and had just gotten back in touch. Angela and Jessica were nodding, Angela smiling paying attention to Bella. Jessica, however, was trying to sneak glances at me more than likely taken aback by my impressive 5'10 height.

"So like, are you a boxer or something?" Jessica asked me, taking a not so subtle up and down again.

"Uh, yeah I guess you could call it that" I responded, smiling to myself at the thought of boxing with vampires.

"So are you any good? Would I have heard of you?" Mike asked curtly.

"We can spar some time and you can judge for yourself" I grinned at him, enjoying the idea of knocking him down a peg. I didn't like the way he looked at Bella.

"Angela!" A boy's voice called not too far from us, in the parking lot.

"See you Monday, Bella." Angela gave a quick smile and then looked at me, shyly "Nice to meet you Leah" and then she was jogging lightly into the parking lot.

Bella said goodbye to Mike and Jessica and we too turned towards the parking lot. Billy's old pick up not hard to find in the lot. We hopped in her truck and started towards La Push.

"Did you run here?" She asked, curiosity obvious.  
"Best way to travel." I chuckled lightly.

"Wasn't it hard to fit all those clothes into your…" She trailed off failing to think of a word.

"Leather strap?" I questioned, not fully knowing if that was even a good name for it.

"Yeah...How do you even fit shoes into that? Wouldn't they get dirty?" She pushed, excitedly.

"I had it all in a plastic shopping bag, carried it in my muzzle" I laughed lightly.

Bella started laughing hysterically, tears welling in her eyes.

"What's so funny?" I smiled at her as we pulled into my driveway.

"I can't picture a wolf carrying a shopping bag in its mouth. Could you imagine walking through the forest and seeing a giant wolf on a shopping trip?" She laughed through her entire explanation and I couldn't help join in.

"Do you want to see?" I continued laughing.

"Are you serious?" Her laughter died quickly and her face was completely serious.

"Yeah I mean if you want." I furrowed my brows a bit confused by how quickly she became serious.

"I'd like that if you don't mind…" She trailed off, looking away from me out the window, blushing lightly.

"Yeah, c'mon" I hopped out of her truck, closing the door behind me.

I heard her hop out quickly and her umbrella opened again, her quick footsteps catching up to me as I led her towards the forest. We walked silently for a while and the rain gave out to the trees so it was only coming down as a light drizzle. I stopped and looked down at Bella with a small smile.

"You're not going to be scared?"

"Really?" She asked with a huff of impatience.

"I just want to make sure…" I smiled softly at her "wait here, okay?"

She nodded at me, smiling wide with anticipation. I turned and disappeared behind a large tree. I pulled the bag from my pocket and started stripping down, putting each item of clothing in as I did. I set the bag down, took a few steps back and phased before picking the bag back up in my muzzle. I could vaguely hear Sam and Jared in my head but they were making an effort to give me some privacy. I stepped out from behind the tree, incredibly slow so I didn't startle Bella. Her laughter sang through my heart, my ears perked and my tail picked up a little, swishing through the air slowly. I kept moving towards Bella keeping my slow pace. She kept laughing, hysterically, tears running down her cheeks. Once I reached her I set the bag down by her feet and left my mouth open, letting my tongue loll out, making a bit of a goofy face. She laughed even harder, gasping for air. It took her a moment of holding her sides and wiping tears from her face before she got a hold of herself. She looked me in the eyes and the laughter slowly died down. I sat on my haunches, admiring her and noticed her nose was a bit red and she was sniffling. I wanted to warm her up or get her inside but didn't really want to move, afraid of doing something wrong to scare her. As I thought through my options she slowly raised her hand and gingerly placed it on the top of my head. I pushed into her hand a bit, extending my head towards her to be a bit closer. She smiled softly and her other hand came up to my cheek, stroking my face slowly. Her first hand sliding down my head to the back of my neck as she closed the little distance between us. I closed my eyes and sighed softly, I could feel my wolf radiating love and contentment at finally having her imprint touch her. My own heart matching the feeling causing me to lean more into her hand on my cheek.

"So much better than a dream" She whispered.

I opened my eyes at that and looked at her with a questioning look. She blushed a little and watched her hand stroke my cheek as she explained.

"I've been having dreams about being around a grey wolf-well about you…" She trailed off, her heart rate picking up as she spoke.

I couldn't help smile and she smiled with a light giggle.

"How is it I can see expressions in your eyes so well?" She questioned me, whimsically.

I let out a puff of air and gave a light shrug, stepping even closer to her so my front leg was almost touching her. I moved my large head so it was over her shoulder and turned it, causing her to be pulled closer to me. She stumbled the first step, out of surprise, but caught herself by grabbing onto the fur on my shoulder. She stepped right up to me so her body was pressed against the side of my leg and shoulder, her hands both disappearing into the fur on my shoulder.

"You're so soft…" She sighed, watching her one hand as it moved up and down under my fur.

I couldn't suppress the content moan that escaped, both my wolf and I were so happy to just have her touch us. My head still turned to watch her as she watched her hand run through my fur. She turned and smiled at me, contently.

"You make a pretty cute wolf." She laughed lightly.

I laughed my wolfy laugh with her and then I saw her moving. My wolf speed able to see it happening slowly even though she was moving quickly for a human. I stood as still as a stone, not wanting to ruin anything. Bella quickly leaned in and gave me a quick peck right on my nose, her heart racing and her cheeks turning even pinker. I stood stunned for a second, vaguely aware of the dopy face my wolf was making. I was pulled out of the pure bliss I was feeling when Bella sneezed into her elbow. I squinted at her and noticed how much redder her nose had become.

"What?" She asked noticing my face no doubt.

I moved, slow enough that her human eyes could easily process what was happening, so I was behind her now. I tilted my head down and pushed her delicately towards the house.

"Oh, you're coming too right?" She took one hesitant step towards the house.

I snorted and gave her another more insistent push.

"Okay, okay" She laughed a little, walking towards the house, picking up her forgotten umbrella.

I quickly phased back and dressed in my jeans and t-shirt leaving the shoes and jacket in the bag. As I left the forest I just saw Bella's back disappear into the front door. She didn't have her bag so I grabbed it from her truck before following her inside. Seth was in the living room, homework scattered across the coffee table, he was sitting with his back against the front of the couch. Bella was taking off my hoodie, it was a bit damp now, and hung it on the coat rack.

"Hey, Bella" Seth grinned his boyish smile, full force at her.

"Hey Seth, what are you working on there?" Bella questioned looking at the papers scattered everywhere.

"Ugh, history" He groaned throwing his head back against the couch for dramatic effect.

I laughed, setting my bag down at the door but carried Bella's bag with me as I made my way into the living room. Without prompting Bella followed me and I plopped down on the couch, setting her bag beside me. Bella sat beside me, her bag between us and she looked down at it with a frown, moving it to the floor.

"History is an easy subject" I gloated, messing up Seth's hair.

"Oh yeah, you should show me how easy. Why don't you start by finishing this essay for me?" He grinned his 100-watt smile at me, holding up his notebook to me.

"Not a chance" I snorted.

Bella giggled lightly beside me and I turned my smile to her.

"Do you have any homework you have to get to this weekend?"

She frowned at me "Yeah, but I'll get it done tomorrow or something"

"May as well do it now, we can't watch tv or anything cuz bricks for brains here has taken over the living room" I playfully shoved Seth with my bare foot.

"Play nice kids!" Sue called from the kitchen.

"Whatever, teacher's pet" Seth muttered low enough that our mother couldn't hear.

Bella snickered, obviously hearing Seth's comment, which earned a playful smirk from him.

"At least I don't have to do homework anymore" I turned back to Bella "What do you have to do?"

She reached down and opened her bag, pulling out a textbook and binder, a piece of paper falling out of it. Seth picked it up and flipped it over, his eyes widening a bit.

"Wow, that's really good Bella," He said as he admired the paper more.

I looked over his shoulder, curious, to be met with my own wolf staring back at me. Bella quickly snatched the paper from Seth and shoved it into her bag, her blush flooding her cheeks and flowing down her neck, disappearing into the collar of her shirt. She cleared her throat and opened her textbook, focusing on it intently. Seth getting the hint turned back to his own homework. I smiled slyly to myself feeling pretty great that she was sketching me in her school work. I looked over at Bella, suddenly very intent on her work, her blush still present but slowly fading.

"Come here," I said softly, pulling her into my lap with ease so that she was sitting sideways on me.

I heard her heart race incredibly fast and saw Seth turn his head halfway, looking at Bella out of the corner of his eye before turning back to his homework. Bella sat stiffly for a split second before relaxing with a content sigh. She leaned her side into my chest, resting her cheek against my collar bone. That's when I realized just how cold she was, I wrapped my arms around her protectively and rest my chin on the top of her head. It took Bella's heart a while to calm back down but once it did she pulled her homework into her lap and began filling it out. I held her close against my body, wishing this would never end. Every once in a while I would move my head so my lips and nose were pressed against her hair so I could enjoy her scent. And I did quite enjoy that her heart would race for a minute or two every time I did it. This was better than any dream I had had about her.


	12. Always yours

Leah POV

I watched Bella while she quickly scribbled down the answers to her homework, making small circles on her arm with my finger. Whenever I pressed my nose to the top of her head her hand would pause, heart picking up its pace, and she would lean into my neck a bit more. I did this again and she paused, her heart accelerating without fail.

"Hard question?" I mumbled against her hair.

"N-no, just uhh taking a break" She struggled, her hand moving again but not actually marking the paper.

I chuckled lightly and moved so my chin was on her head again. A few seconds later she continued her work, filling it out with ease. I admired how quickly she was able to fill in the questions, and that was with her stopping with me distracting her. I was seriously impressed by how smart she was.

"Goddddddd!" Seth wailed as he let his head fall forward onto the coffee table, making a loud thump.

"You be gentle with that coffee table, your father got it for me" Sue scolded from the kitchen.

"What's up, Seth?" Bella asked kindly.

"I just wanna be running patrol right now" Seth mumbled into the table, his arms coming up onto the coffee table shoving papers off of it.

Bella and I laughed at him, together and she leaned down picking up one of the papers, looking at it curiously. It was filled with Seth's sloppy writing about the Quileute tribe.

"Wait, your history essay is about the tribe?" Bella asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, it's laaaame" Seth snorted, shoving more papers off the table, face still against the wooden table.

"What? That sounds super cool. I wish my homework was this interesting" Bella mussed as she started reading Seth's notes.

Seth's head lifted from the coffee table and turned to look at Bella, his eye squinting suspiciously.

"That's the kind of stuff we learn at school on the res, we learn the other stuff too about the American settlers and all" Seth saying settlers like a curse word.

Bella picked up on this and an eyebrow raised as she looked up to meet his gaze.

"We learn about American history from the losing perspective," I explained awkwardly, not wanting Seth to offend her.

Bella quickly glanced at me and then back at Seth, a shy smile on her face.

"Do you think you could tell me more?" She asked sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah sure" Seth looked at her surprised, gathering up some of his papers.

Bella set her homework aside and shifted in my lap, so she was facing forward. I smiled to myself and shifted her off my lap. She looked up at me, hurt.

"I'm going to go see if Mom needs help in the kitchen" I explained "I've heard enough of the tribal history for a lifetime"

Bella smiled kindly at me before turning back to Seth.

"So how old is the Quileute tribe?" Bella asked, leaning forward onto her knees.

I left the living room as Seth started his explanation. When I entered the kitchen my mother was smiling at me, incredibly happy.

"What?" I laughed awkwardly.

"I haven't seen you this happy in years, it's nice to have my Leah back" She grinned even wider.

"Whatever, Mom" I tried to hide my smile as I moved to help chop vegetables.

"I'm incredibly grateful she's in our lives now" She kept gushing.

"Okay, okay Mom" I mumbled a little embarrassed by the attention.

"I mean she's even gotten Seth into his homework," She said incredibly quiet, knowing only I would hear it.

I took a second to listen to the conversation in the living room.

"What? That's awesome. You should put that in your essay for sure." Bella was excitedly egging Seth on.

"Yeah, that's actually good" Seth responded and I heard pen scratching paper.

I turned back to look at my mother and she was beaming.

"You always had such a beautiful smile" She grinned, stirring the pot on the stove.

I hadn't realised I was smiling until she pointed it out and it faded instinctively. I turned back to chopping the vegetables and heard her sigh lightly.

"So you two are having a sleepover tonight?" She inquired and I heard the slight hesitation.

"Yeah" I mumbled a little embarrassed by the whole situation.

"Well then I want to resolidify some old rules" She stopped stirring her pot and I looked up to meet her gaze, pausing my chopping.

"I don't want any funny business in my house. I don't want you two sleeping in the-" She was using her lecturing voice.

"Mom" I interrupted her, feeling a little annoyed knowing where she was going with this.

"No, no let me finish. This is different from when you were kids, you two are-" She continued ignoring my plea.

"God mom, we aren't even dating" I said a little too loudly.

"Oh, well then. I still don't want any funny business" She stiffened, returning to her pot.

I helped her finish up dinner, and then set the table for four. I took a second, pausing, a little taken aback. The last time the table had been set for four my father was still alive. I gripped the back of a chair and hung my head, the grief taking me by surprise. I didn't hear her approach but felt her arms wrap around my waist, her body pressing against my back. I was pulled out of my grief a bit and turned in her arms, returning the embrace.

"Hey, how's the homework going?" I inquired, still holding Bella close to me.

"Good. Are you okay?" She tilted her head back and looked up at me, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah why?" I smiled down at her.

"Just checking…" She mumbled, looking off into the distance.

"Dinner!" Sue called unnecessarily loud.

I heard Seth scramble in the living room and come running into the small dining room, taking his usual seat.

"Smells great, Mum" He emphasized this when his stomach rumbled.

Bella and I broke from our hug and I took my usual spot, she took my father's old spot. My mother set the pot on a hot mat on the table and Seth quickly reached for the ladle, his bowl in hand.

"Seth, I raised you with better manners than that" Sue scolded. "You serve our guest first"

"That's what I was doing!" Seth insisted too quickly, filling his bowl and placing it beside Bella's. He grabbed her old bowl and started filling it for himself, beaming his 100 watt smile at Bella then our mother. He quickly filled his new bowl and started shoveling spoonfuls into his mouth at inhuman speeds. We ate dinner with some small talk and when we finished Bella started clearing the table with my mother.

"Bella, sweetie, you don't have to do that, you're our guest." Sue smiled at her but I could tell she appreciated the help.

"It's fine really, I don't mind at all" Bella responded, quickly gathering up the bowls, putting them in the sink.

"No, no. I know you take care of your father at home. You girls go have fun, consider it a night off" Sue was gently ushering her out of the kitchen, and I followed behind them.

Bella and I were back in the living room, awkwardly standing with no purpose.

"You guys wanna go to the beach?" Seth asked enthusiastically as he shoved his papers back into his backpack.

"Huny, are you done your essay already?" Sue called from the kitchen, skeptically.

Seth's shoulders slumped and he stopped shoving papers into his bag, pouting towards the kitchen.

"I'm almost done, and it's not due until thursday" He began reasoning, knowing he would lose this argument.

"That's great, I'd love to hear what you have so far. Come read it to me while I tidy up." Sue said sweetly but we both knew this was the end of the conversation.

Seth shot me a defeated, longing, look and I recognized it from years of him wanting to tag along with me. We were always close but some things our mother didn't like him joining in on, especially when I went to R rated movies with friends. I turned to Bella and raised a questioning eyebrow at her then looked at the door. She seemed to understand me with no problem and moved to the coat rack, grabbing my old hoodie without hesitation. I decided I'd be somewhat normal and wear shoes, even though most of the reservation was used to the odd fashion sense the pack had.

Once outside I turned to Bella, one side of my mouth pulling up into a smirk.

"So now that Seth isn't coming along what super fun things do you want to do?" I said, mockingly loud so she would understand I was just playing around.

"I was thinking we could go to the beach and get all of Seth's favorite ice cream flavours and eat it all." She grinned at me, playing along.

I heard a groan from inside the house and Bella giggled. I snickered a bit and started walking, Bella followed close beside me.

"So what do you want to do?" I questioned looking down at her as we walked in no particular direction.

Bella smiled a bit shy, looking down at her feet.

"I was thinking maybe we could visit Jake if he's home…" She trailed off.

I knew how close the two were but I couldn't help the small twinge of jealousy that stirred in me. But even with the jealousy I knew I'd do anything for her that would make her happy.

"Sounds good. He's not patrolling right now and if he's sleeping I'm sure he won't mind getting up for you." I shoved my hands in my pockets.

We continued walking in a comfortable silence through the light misting rain, towards Jacob's house. After a few minutes Bella broke the silence with a not so subtle throat clear.

"So uhm...when you were in the kitchen with your mom" She shoved her hands into the hoodie pocket, kicking at a rock as we walked. "What were you talking about?" She watched as she kicked the rock, and the hood covered her face from view.

"Just how much my mum appreciated you helping Seth with his homework" I answered nonchalantly, not sure what brought this on.

"Anything else?..." She pushed.

"Uhm, I guess she was happy to see you at the house again" I kept watching her, wondering what she was getting at.

"Yeah it's been awhile…" She trailed off.

The silence returned and we walked, taking turns kicking the rock down the street.

"Tell me more about imprints." Bella said suddenly, almost like a demand.

I stopped and looked at her, curious about her odd questioning. She stopped too and finally looked up at me, I could see faint hints of a blush fading.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" I continued our walk.

"Everything?" She walked beside me, but so close now that our arms brushed every once in awhile.

"God, where to start?" I mussed "Well we don't really know why imprints happen but some have theories."

"Like what?" She asked, enthusiastically.

"Some theories are that it's supposed to carry on the wolf gene. Others think it's more romantic like literal soul mates." I shrugged. "I guess they're wrong about the first one"

"Why do you think that?" She questioned and it almost sounded like I had hurt her feelings.

"Well I mean look at us. We can't exactly reproduce" I scoffed and then quickly added "You know hypothetically if we were to date"

"I read this article once and it said that scientists had figured out a way to use a woman's DNA to impregnate another woman. The only thing is that the baby will always be a girl." She stated quite matter of factly.

"That's pretty cool" I looked down at her again but she was watching the rock bounce along the road.

"Tell me more about imprints" She pushed. "Tell me about this imprint" She whispered the second part, uncertainty clear.

"Well...nobody really knows what to think of our imprint. No one really knows what to think of a female shapeshifter" I stated, a little agitated by the reminder.

She stopped and reached out to touch my arm lightly. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you" She frowned up at me, her doe eyes remorseful.

"It's not your fault, it's just upsetting to be the outsider" I smiled down at her, reassuringly.

"It's just I want to know what we are…" She mumbled, looking past me as a dark blush spread across her face and down her neck.

"Oh" Is all I could think of.

I could hear her heart racing and a few loud swallows.

"We're whatever you want us to be, the choice has always been yours" I explained after taking a moment to compose myself.

I couldn't get my hopes up. This could be something totally different than what I wanted it to be. Maybe I was coming on too strong and she was trying to be nice about it.

"Well I uhm" She stammered and began walking again, her kicking rock forgotten.

"My choice? Why just my choice?" She continued, obviously uncomfortable.

I followed beside her, a small smirk on my face.

"A wolf will be anything for his-er her imprint. Whatever the imprint needs the wolf will provide for her" I almost quoted word for word from Sam's explanation to me. "And the wolf is incredibly happy as long as her imprint is."

Bella nodded stiffly and we continued our stroll in silence but this time it felt tense. Had I freaked her out? Was I being too over the top?

"I can't be away from you" She whispered. "I always want to be close and when I'm close it's not enough, I need more" She continued quietly.

I couldn't help the large smirk that spread across my face. I had a feeling I knew where this was going but I kind of wanted to hear it.

"I just need you in my life all the time" her voice was strained and quiet. "And I...it felt so wrong to be touched by someone else"

My smirk started to turn into a grin and I slowed our walking down to a crawl, she followed my lead.

"And I just couldn't stand him anymore...I broke up with Edward because it didn't feel right" She admitted, stopping and looking up at me with her big doe eyes.

She was nervous or scared but that last sentence was all I needed. I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist, and she interlaced her fingers against the back of my neck. I leaned in slowly and pressed my lips to hers. Her lips were so soft, I couldn't believe this was reality. But her soft lips started to press against mine, harder, her hands pulling my neck towards her desperately. I obliged and pulled her closer so our bodies were firmly pressed together. Her lips parted and my tongue greedily explored her mouth, dancing against hers. A small moan escaped from low in her chest and she gripped the hair at the nape of my neck, demanding more. I couldn't help the quiet growl that escaped my throat and I pulled her up so she was no longer standing on the ground. Instinctively, her legs wrapped around my waist and my hands went to her ass holding her to me. I wanted her right here, right now, but I knew I couldn't. I broke away from the kiss, reluctantly, and when I opened my eyes I was met by Bella's hurt expression. Her face only inches from mine was flushed with colour, her breathing heavy and her heart was racing. I smirked at her, still clinging onto me, her hands loosening a bit in my hair.

"Maybe this isn't the best place to makeout" I suggested.

She looked around, seeming lost for a second or two. We were a few doors down from Jacob's house and I knew she would have been embarrassed if anyone had seen that.

"Yeah I guess you're right" She sighed but made no move to disentangle herself from me.

I kissed her cheek lightly and slowly set her down on her feet, she released my neck.

"So does that…" She stammered unable to finish her thought.

"I'm yours Bella, I have been since I laid eyes on you" I smirked and grabbed her hand, interlacing my fingers with hers.

"Oh" the word seemed to have caught in her throat "you're my girlfriend?" She looked up at me with a shy smile.

"I mean, that" I gestured at us, raising an eyebrow "probably wasn't appropriate for childhood friends" I smiled playfully at her.

She beamed at me and it was my hearts turn to jump. She continued our walk, keeping so close to my side I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She giggled lightly and pressed into my side, wrapping her arm around my waist. Our steps surprisingly matched up, incredibly easy, despite the fact that my stride should be much longer than hers. It felt so good to finally have her, my heart was soaring and I could feel my wolf stirring. I had to fight off the urge to let out the excited howl she was brewing. Bella continued our walk to Jacob's and when we reached the front door I couldn't wipe the cocky smirk off my face. She was mine now, all jealousy was gone


	13. I love you

Leah POV

Jacob opened the door, Bella greeted him with a small wave and "Hey Jake". But he wasn't paying much attention to the greeting, he was taking in Bella and I. We stood on his front stoop her arm around my waist, my arm draped over her shoulders possessively. He met my gaze and I could feel the unfiltered possessive glare on my face. Without warning my wolf let out a very soft and brief growl in a "mine" kind of sense. I knew it was too quiet for Bella's ears to pick up on but I knew Jacob would have heard. I saw the corner of his mouth pull down into a momentary frown. Bella must have noticed too because she let go of my waist and pulled free from my arm. It was my turn to frown slightly and Jacob gave me a bit of a smug sneer.

"What are you up to today?" Bella spoke in an attempt to fill the silence, obviously feeling the tension.

"Nothing much, maybe tinker in the garage a bit and then patrols in a few hours." Jacob looked away from me, to Bella, his face shifting to friendly excitement. "Why what's up?"

"I dunno figured we could hang out. I haven't seen you in a while, it feels weird" Bella shrugged.

"Cool!" Jacob answered excitedly, then his gaze shifted to me suspicion evident.

"Yeah should be fun" I chimed in, more than likely answering his uncertainty.

"Yeah, fun…" He trailed off, obviously disappointed that I would be "chaperoning" their play date.

"C'mon what are you working on?" Bella asked as she linked their arms together.

I frowned at this. I don't like how close the two are knowing how Jacob fells about Bella.

Jacob went on about whatever he was working on as they walked towards the garage. I followed behind the two, admiring the view of Bella from behind. I wasn't paying any attention to the conversation between the two so I didn't contribute much unless addressed directly. My mind was off thinking about my future with Bella. It will be amazing, she's my girlfriend now. We made out. I get to keep making out with her, I couldn't keep the smile off my face at that thought. I watched Bella as she joked around with Jacob, her laugh and smile intoxicating. My heart swelled every time she snuck a peek at me and gave a shy smile every time she realized I was looking at her.

Bella and Jacob continued their playful teasing arguing about who was older. I half watched, fascinated by how close the two were. In my mind they were polar opposites which I was completely fine with. But I could feel the imprint changing my opinion about Jacob. Seeing how happy and excited Bella was with him made me appreciate him a tiny bit. Just a bit.

"You want a soda, Bells?" Jacob asked from under a rusted car.

"Depends. Is it cold or has it been sitting in the sun for a week?" Bella retorted, kicking his foot before holding a tool out towards him. "Here"

"Uhhh" Jacob rolled out from under the car and took the tool looking up at Bella with a guilty look. "It's only been like two days tops."

"I don't understand how you can drink flat warm soda" Bella snorted.

"Whatever, it's still good!" Jacob sat up, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're disgusting" Bella retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Okay kids," I spoke up, pushing off from the wall I was leaning on. "I'll go pick up some fresh cold soda"

"Grab some grape crush" Jacob said less than enthusiastically.

"Ugh that's the worst soda every!" Bella wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Will you get me a root beer?" She turned to me with a cute pouty face.

"Anything for you" I smiled back at her.

Jacob rolled his eyes behind Bella's back, only meant for me to see. It annoyed me and my wolf demanded I solidify my claim. I closed the few steps between Bella and I, wrapping my arms around her waist. She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck, and I pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you Leah!" She mumbled into my neck.

As she started to pull back from the hug I tightened my arms around her waist a bit. At that I saw momentary confusion that quickly turned into a playful smile. I closed the gap between our two faces quickly and brushed my lips against hers before pressing them to her firmly. Her hands gripped at my hair, greedily, deepening the kiss.

"You going for that soda before the store closes or what?" I could hear the venom in Jacob's voice.

Bella quickly pulled away from me and cleared her throat awkwardly. She was beat red. I could kill Jacob for ruining such a glorious moment. Let alone the fact that he made Bella feel embarrassed. I glared at him and couldn't stop the corner of my mouth from pulling back, exposing my k-9 tooth. He snarled back at me in response probably agitated by the threat.

"Hey, Leah, thank you for going. I should have some loose change in my truck if you're going that way." Bella inquired as she lightly touched my arm.

"Ofcourse" I turned my attention back to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning for the door.

"So you and Leah?" I heard Jacob ask flatly as I was walking towards the forest.

'Yeah Bella and I. Eat it Jacob' I thought smugly.

Once fairly deep into the forest I phased. I said hello to whoever was on patrol, but I didn't pay much attention to who it was. I was on a mission to get this soda and get back to my Bella. I didn't like the thought of Jacob alone with her. My wolf, always more opinionated when I was in her body, agreed with this and insisted that we turn back now and forget the stupid human task. As tempting as it was to give into my wolf's reasoning I pushed on. I didn't want to disappoint Bella and have her drink warm flat soda.

Getting the soda was easy enough, I even grabbed a bag of Cheetos for a snack. I phased on the edge of the Black's property and started walking back, swinging the grocery bag as I did. Then I heard the arguing.

"C'mon Bells let me see" Jacob was pleading "I'm sorry"

I sped my walk to a light jog, scared Bella hurt herself somehow on something in the garage.

"No, leave me alone Jake." Bella's voice sounded like it was on the brink of tears.

I dropped the grocery bag and sprinted towards the garage door. I held Bella by the shoulders assessing her. She was cradling her hand against her chest and it looked swollen. I looked up from Bella's hand, concern evident on my face, and looked at Jacob for an explanation. He wasn't meeting my gaze, just looking down at his feet.

"I guess you'll hear it sooner or later" Jacob murmured as he looked up to meet my gaze.

"What happened?" I was becoming a bit agitated by the look of determination on Jacob's face.

"I kissed Bella and she punched me in the face" He stated with no remorse.

I shifted Bella behind me, protectively, and growled.

"What the fuck Jacob?" I growled the words between my clenched teeth.

"I don't care what your imprint lays claim on, she's still in love with me!" Jacob snarled back.

I was shaking so fiercely, trying not to phase, that I couldn't form words anymore. I snarled back at Jacob, my wolf demanding I let her take control so she could rip him apart. Then I felt a delicate hand rest on my back. My shaking subsided slightly and I half turned to see Bella's frightened face. I completely turned around and took her in my arms, my shaking almost completely gone. I looked back over my shoulder at Jacob and could see he had almost completely stopped shaking too. Maybe he had seen the fear on Bella's face too. I glared at him one last time before scooping Bella up in my arms. She rested her head against my chest as I quickly started walking down the road.

"Where are we going?" She asked, looking up at me.

"I'm taking you home, then we're hoping in your truck and going to the hospital" I stated still trying to get a hold of myself.

"I'm able to walk, it's just my hand that hurts" Bella stated as she squirmed in my arms.

I set her down gingerly with a frown, she was acting a bit odd.

"Are you okay Bella?" I asked as I put an arm around her shoulders "I mean besides your hand" I quickly added.

"Yeah" She answered, sounding like she was miles away.

We walked to my house in silence, Bella seeming lost in her thoughts. When we reached her truck I opened the passage door for her and quickly hopped into the driver side. As we drove towards the hospital Bella turned to me with a quizzical look.

"You drive slow." She stated.

"Oh sorry" I stepped down on the accelerator and the truck protested.

"No-no. I like it Jake and Edward always drive too fast for me and my truck" Bella quickly corrected.

"I know" I smiled and let off the accelerator.

"What?" She turned to look at me and I could see the confusion out of the corner of my eye.

"Well I mean technically it isn't eavesdropping...Jacob practically replayed your hang outs like like a movie. It was kind of hard to ignore" I tried to explain without sounding too much like a stalker.

"What do you mean?" Bella pushed.

"Well almost every time he picked you up you complained about how fast he drove. You complained a lot more when he drove your truck." I shrugged. "I figure you didn't like people speeding cuz your dad is a cop. And I mean your truck sounds like it'll blow up if it goes over the limit anyways" I turned to look at her and she was looking at me dumbfounded. I turned back to the road, also knowing she didn't like when Jacob wasn't focused on driving, despite his supernatural speed.

"I love you" She said, almost whimsically.

I turned to look at her, a grin plastered on my face. She was blushing fiercely and shaking her head.

"Pretend I didn't say that!" She was covering her face with her one good hand, still shaking her head.

I laughed and placed my hand just above her knee and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Pretend you didn't say what?" I could feel my face break into a smile that could challenge Seth's 100 watt smile.

"God" Bella groaned as she peeked out from between her fingers.

Bella slowly composed herself and rest her good hand on top of mine. We continued the drive to the hospital in silence, but it felt right.


	14. Movie Night

Bella POV

I sat on the hospital bed, my throbbing hand cradled in my lap. Leah sat in a chair close to my bed looking up hopefully every time a nurse walked past. We had been here for a few hours now and we were just waiting for them to review the x-rays. I sighed lightly and closed my eyes, leaning back against the pillows on the bed. I can't get rid of this guilty feeling that's been eating at me the last couple of hours. It gets even worse when I look over at Leah. She looks back at me with those beautiful brown eyes, full of concern. I can't shake what Jake had said when Leah came back to the garage.

"She's still in love with me!" He had snarled at Leah.

Remembering all of it made my heart sink. I don't deserve either of them because Jake was right. Deep down I always knew that I loved him but I kept lying to myself. Leah placed her hand lightly on my thigh and gently stroked it, comfortingly. I had to fight back tears that wanted to come to my eyes. The last couple hours have been hell, fighting myself. I have to choose one and stop loving the other, to be fair to my imprint and my…my what? I know I want to spend my life with Leah. I want to settle down with her, get married, have kids, and grow old together. But Jake...my love for him feels the same and completely different at the same time. I want him in my life through everything. I want him to live close, be my best man, and be the cool uncle to spoil my kids. Or was it more than that? This is torture I don't know what to do and I don't want to hurt anyone anymore.

"Bella…" Leah whispered, close to my ear. She kissed my cheek delicately.

I opened my eyes in response causing a single tear to fall and trail down my face to meet the spot Leah had just kissed.

"What is it?" She asked, cupping my face with her hand and brushing the tear away with her thumb.

"I'm scared to tell you" I could barely say above a hoarse whisper.

"You can tell me anything, I love you." She smiled at me sweetly. But I could see a little mischievous glint in her eyes, a small jab at my blurting I loved her earlier. She reminded me so much of Seth in that moment I couldn't help but smile back weakly.

"What Jake said earlier" I looked down and took in a shaky breath. "He's right" I swallowed hard.

Leah sighed sadly and removed her hand from my cheek to place it back on top of my thigh.

"I know"

My head shot up and I looked at her in surprise.

"The way you two interact-I'm not really sure how to explain how I know." She looked past me for a moment in thought.

"I guess it just doesn't seem too threatening. Like something in me is content as long as you are happy and loved. And if that means you have to love a bit to have that then it's something that's okay." She looked at me again with a small smile.

I couldn't do anything but look at her, tears silently falling down my cheeks. I don't deserve her.

"Please don't cry" she pleaded softly as she wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"It's a different love, I don't know how to explain it. It's something more than what I would feel for a brother or best friend. But it's less than what I feel for you. But somehow I feel attached to him the same way I feel attached to you." I sighed exasperated.

Leah smiled softly at me and leaned in, kissing me delicately like she was afraid kissing would hurt my hand. I smiled against her lips, ecstatic that I had told her and she was still here. I felt like 100 pounds had been lifted from my heart. I leaned up, off the pillows, into her. She wrapped her arm around the small of my back, supporting a lot of my weight. A small whine escaped me as I tried to get closer to Leah and couldn't because her other arm was very carefully protecting my swollen hand. She slowly pulled away from me and kissed my forehead before standing. I looked up at her with a small pout and leaned back into the pillows. I figure she heard someone coming but didn't quite understand why she was standing. Then everything quickly clicked into place.

Carlisle walked up to the end of my bed, holding a folder in his one arm.

"Hello, Leah. It is good to see you whole again."

To my surprise Leah extended her hand and returned the smile. This is the same woman who hated vampires more than anyone. She blamed herself for killing her father when she phased. And that only happened because of the Cullens. But here she was extending her hand to Carlisle, no threat whatsoever.

"It's good to see you again Doctor Cullen. Though I can't say I enjoyed our last visit."

Carlisle chuckled as he shook her hand then turned his smile on me.

"I wish I could say the same for you, Bella." He opened the folder in his arm and pulled some see through black sheets from it.

It took me a second to realize it was my turn to speak. I was still completely lost by Leah's civil behaviour.

"You know me Carlisle, I love visiting you at work." I smiled sheepishly.

Carlisle held up the x-ray image so Leah and I could see it.

"Well lucky for you there are no breaks. I suspect it's just a bad sprain." He replaced the x rays in the folder and placed it with the rest of the information the nurse had taken from me.

"I was told you punched something?" He asked, eyebrow raised, as he began to feel my hand.

"I uhm...I punched Jake." I murmured, looking down and watching Carlisle's hands work. They paused when he heard what I said and he began laughing loudly.

"Bella, I'd suggest you leave that sort of thing to Leah." His laugh fading to a chuckle as he began wrapping my hand.

"I'll be sure to fill that prescription, doc." Leah smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Carlisle turned my hand over and inspected his work on my hand and wrist.

"Good. Now you need to let this heal. No more punching brick walls." He looked back at me and smiled his fatherly smile.

"Thank you" I smiled back sheepishly, feeling stupid.

Leah drove us back to her house. The ride was mostly silent and I couldn't help wonder what she was thinking about. Was she actually okay with what I had told her? Her expression looked calm enough and she wasn't shaking anywhere. So I know she's not mad. But what if I had hurt her? We pulled into the Clearwater's driveway. Seth flung the door open and jogged to the truck, all smiles.

"You're home! Guess what moms making for dinner." He spoke so quickly his words seemed like one large word with no spaces.

Leah laughed and hopped out of my truck. She tried to grab Seth but he moved out of the way in a blur. Leah turned her head and smiled at me before chasing Seth around the side of the house and into the backyard. I followed at what must be a pain stakingly slow human walk. When I entered the backyard instead of seeing the two Clearwater siblings I saw two giant wolves rolling and nipping at each other. I smiled and moved to sit on the back stoop. As I watched the two wrestle and run around my mind wandered back to how to define my feelings towards Jake. Suddenly Seth's large wolf was licking the entire right side of my face, leaving a slobbery trail.

"Ewww!" I shrieked half joking as I wiped the slobber on my sleeve.

Leah's wolf pounced on Seth and flattened him right in front of me. She bit at the scruff of his neck and growled. She looked at me without releasing Seth and I smiled showing her I was playing around too. She released Seth and they continued to prance around.

"I really wish they'd stop phasing in their clothes." Sue sighed as she sat next to me.

I hadn't realized they had until she pointed it out. But now I noticed shreds of cloth littering the backyard.

"You two are cleaning this yard. And if I find a single piece of fabric so help me." She threatened.

Seth's wolf started picking up shreds of clothing, in its muzzle, and throwing it into the air like confetti. Leah's came and sat at the bottom of the stoop and rested her head in my lap. I rest my wrapped hand on top of her head and idly played with her ears with my other hand.

"What happened to your hand Bella?" Sue asked, concerned.

Seth stopped his confetti party and looked over at my hand. Then he trotted over and nuzzled at Leah's head, close to my hand.

"I uh punched Jake in the face" I mumbled, embarrassed.

Seth phrased back and started howling with laughter. I quickly looked away from him because he stood in front of us, naked. I felt Leah turn her head into me slightly and huffed, agitated.

"Oh my God, Bella, that's awesome!" He was crying tears of laughter now.

"Seth!" Sue bellowed, exasperated. "Put some clothes on. And then bring your sister some."

Sue turned to look back at me as Seth ran off, still laughing.

"What, may I ask, caused such a rash incident?"

"He erm, he kissed me when Leah went to the store" I squirmed, hating that this whole situation wasn't behind me yet.

"I see" Sue's eyes got dark and I saw the resemblance to her daughter. "He knows this violates pack rules on imprints. I'm sure Sam will speak with him. If not I'll have to speak with Billy."

"It's a bit of a difficult situation…" I trailed off, feeling my cheeks burn.

"I see" Sue's wise eyes met mine and she smiled before standing up.

Did she know something weird about imprinting that Leah didn't? Before I could look into it more Seth came outside and unceremoniously dropped something bright pink beside Leah and I. Before I could ask what it was he had disappeared back into the house, cackling. I heard Leah growl and felt the vibration against my leg. She stood and huffed at the pink garment. I picked it up as I stood, curious. I was holding a pink frilly dress in front of me but it looked way too small to fit Leah now.

"I can grab something for you if you want" i said as I loosely folded the dress back up.

Leah shook her head and then pointed her snout up at a window I recognized to be the bathroom. When I looked back at her I now just noticed the mud and grass coating her fur.

"Ahh. I'll be inside then" I nodded once.

Leah smiled a wolfy grin at me and I went inside. I went and joined Seth in the living room. When I sat down on the couch I heard the water in the shower start. I was curious and started evaluating Seth. He was wearing nothing but a pair of cargo shorts. His chest had dry mud all over it and there was grass and mud in his hair. He grinned and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's up?"

"Where does all the fur go? You're covered in mud but it would have been your fur that was muddy…" I looked him over again, deeply confused.

"I dunno" he shrugged "I don't really think about it much. But hey! You punched Jake in the face" he threw a few punches in the air in front of him. "Badass Bella" He spoke in a movie trailer type of voice over voice "puncher of werewolves, destroyer of worlds" he grinned at me again and I couldn't help but laugh with him.

When Leah was finished showering we had breakfast for dinner which had Seth super excited. He enthusiastically explained how their father used to make breakfast for dinner when Sue went to her friend's one Saturday a month. He continued to explain that him and Leah each had special sous-chef roles. Seth was in charge of making scrambled eggs and Leah the pancakes.

Once dinner was done Leah invited me to her room and I caught Sue giving her a motherly look. Leah sighed in response and took my hand leading me to her room. She closed the door almost all the way, leaving it open an inch. I looked at her confused as I sat in her office chair.

"Can't have my girlfriend in my room with my door closed" she grumbled and then muttered something about getting her own house. I nodded my understanding and she walked over to me. In one swift movement she had me in her arms, my feet completely off the ground, and pushed the office chair away with her foot. I smiled down at her and wrapped my arms and legs around her.

"So, do you want to watch a movie or something?" She asked, leaning her face closer to mine.

"Sure" I smiled. I could feel my heart rate speed up just imagining what she could mean by "something".

She quickly deposited me onto her bed, kissed me, and then jumped back. Before I could protest she was moving around her room, retrieving a laptop. She then placed the laptop on a stack of books that was on top of an old looking blanket box at the end of her bed. Then she was sitting cross legged on the end of her bed, opening Netflix on the laptop.

"What do you want to watch?" She asked looking back at me over her shoulder.

I couldn't think of anything so I crawled to the end of the bed and sat beside her. I guess she wasn't happy with that because she pulled me into her lap and placed my hands on the laptop. I giggled at her and leaned back into her chest, she wrapped her arms around my stomach and buried her face in my hair. I started scrolling through the movie options trying to pick something but was having more and more trouble. Leah began kissing my neck and behind my ear. My heart fluttered and sent a jolt between my legs. I distractedly looked through the movies some more, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. Then Leah began nibbling on my ear lobe, I could feel my underwear starting to moisten and clicked a movie at random before turning around to face her. Leah scooted us back on the bed and laid back so I was now straddling her, she looked down at the crotch of my pants then looked up at me and smirked. I looked down, momentarily mortified that my arousal was soaking into my pants. Once I confirmed that my pants looked normal I looked back at her and was met with lustful eyes. I laid down on top of her and pressed my body against hers, kissing her hard. Her hands quickly found my butt and squeezed causing a growl to escape me. She quickly stopped our making out and tilted her head, listening. I made an apologetic face at her and she smiled seductively back. This time she sat up slightly and pressed her lips to mine. I slid my hand under her shirt and felt her incredibly toned stomach, running my hand over it many times. I could feel a slight smile on her lips as I tugged at her shirt, trying to get it off with one hand. I bit her bottom lip lightly to tell her I meant business and I felt her hips jolt slightly. Then her shirt was suddenly off and her hands were back on me, holding my hips and trailing under my shirt slightly. She was moving her hands over my body agonizingly slow and I began to tug at my own shirt. Having little success while trying to kiss Leah I pulled back and violently pulled my shirt up. In my haste I got myself half out of my shirt but stuck somehow. Leah chuckled lightly and helped me out the rest of the way. Once I was out of my shirt I had a chance to admire Leah in the dim light, laying back on her bed again. She lay there in her sports bra and shorts smiling up at me. I scooted down a bit and unbuttoned her shorts with one hand. She raised an eyebrow at me, impressed, but helped me remove her shorts fully. I took Leah in again, running my hand along her. Before I had a chance to fully appreciate her she had flipped us so I was under her and she was straddling me. Her hungry eyes took me in, pausing a long time on my bra clad chest. Then she leaned down and began kissing along my neck, I groaned softly and she quickly stopped, sitting back up. She looked at me with a "careful" kind of look as she listened again. When she was satisfied that no one was coming she went back to my neck but before she started kissing it she put her hand over my mouth. She resumed kissing my neck and I held back my moans with a little difficulty. She trailed her kisses down my collar bone but was kissing closer and closer to the hem of my bra. I moaned into her hand softly and was sure no one would be able to hear it. She went back to kissing up my neck and her other hand came up to caress my chest. My hips thrust into hers, involuntarily, and she let out the softest moan right in my ear. I frantically began trying to undo my pants and she helped me out of them in one swift pull. I squirmed and indicated that I wanted to move again and Leah rolled us so I was straddling her again. She rested both hands on my hips and kissed me hard. I couldn't take it anymore I just wanted her to fuck me already. I began grinding my hips against hers, trying to stifle my moans.

"We can't do this here" Leah whispered, sadly.

I ignored her and began pulling my underwear down. She held my hand still and shifted me so I was laying next to her in bed.

"Don't get me wrong, I really want to. But we can't, not here."

I sighed and nodded, disappointment probably written all over my face. Leah's face almost reflected how I felt so I cuddled up against her side and turned my attention to the movie I had started. Leah wrapped her arms around me, tight, and looked at the laptop too. She began tracing shapes on my naked back and I could feel myself starting to drift off.


	15. Annoying Baby Brother

Leah POV

When I woke I could feel Bella wrapped in my arms, pressed up against my side. I opened my eyes slowly and looked over at her. She was snuggled close, her one arm draped over my stomach, in nothing but her bra and panties. My heart sped up for a second as I admired her almost naked body. Gingerly, I unwrapped one arm from her and looked around my room. My laptop was asleep but my shorts were laying across the keyboard. Bella must have thrown them there last night. Slowly I extended my leg to it's full length and was just able to reach the shorts with my toes. With a little difficulty I picked them up with my toes and brought them high enough up that I could grab them with my hand. I looked on the floor beside my bed and found the rest of our clothing. Trying not to shift too much, not wanting to wake Bella, I reached over the side of the bed and scooped up the rest of the clothing, placing it between my legs. Then I used my foot, again, to grab the blanket that was shoved to the end of the bed. I pulled it up and completely covered Bella with it but only pulled it up over my legs, and our clothing. When my mom inevitably walks in she would see Bella completely under blankets except her head and the arm on my stomach. As for me she would see me from the waist up, in my sports bra, minus my one arm that disappeared under the blanket and wrapped around Bella. This should be fine, I almost always walk around in my sports bra. Happy with myself I grabbed my phone off my night stand and downloaded a realtor app. It's about time I looked into finding my own place. Plus once I did have my own house Bella and I wouldn't have to worry about my mom's stupid rules. I scrolled through the app for awhile before I heard my mother approaching. She was tiptoeing towards my room and I knew it was only for Bella's benefit, probably making sure if Bella was asleep she didn't wake her. She slowly pushed the door and poked her head in once it was half way open. I looked up from my phone, as if I hadn't known she was coming until just now. She was assessing my room, looking around and her eyes looked under the bed before looking at Bella and I. My heart sped up a bit and I mentally pat myself on the back for not putting the clothes under the bed. I smiled an innocent smile and she narrowed her eyes slightly before turning and leaving, the door now half ajar. I sighed and turned my attention back to my phone. The houses in La Push were incredibly limited and too expensive for my meager savings. There was one house that was abandoned and boarded up. Honestly, it looked like shit but I could afford it. There were no pictures of the inside and no information about how many bedrooms and bathrooms. It was two pictures, one of the front of the house and an aerial that showed it tucked away deep in the woods.

Bella stirred then stretched, and snuggled against me harder with a small sigh. I smiled and put my phone down, wrapping my arms around her and rolling her so she was laying on top of me. She opened her eyes and smiled down at me. The blanket had fallen on the floor when I moved her but she didn't seem to mind. She kissed me softly before sitting up, straddling me her hands staying on my stomach. I placed my hands on her hips and we just kind of held eachother like that, looking into each other's eyes.

"Hey we shou-" Whatever Seth was going to say was lost as he choked on the sentence.

He stood in the door frame, door now wide open. His hair a complete mess, his one hand still at his face like he had been rubbing sleep out of his eye. I cursed myself because I never worried about listening for Seth, too wrapped up in Bella. I moved at wolf speed, gathering the blanket from the floor and wrapping Bella in it. I didn't bother hiding our clothes, Seth had already seen everything. My wolf speed couldn't even hide Bella quickly because he had the same speed.

"Morning Seth" I muttered, glaring at him.

"Morning Seth" Bella said cheerily, as she poked out from behind me.

"Morning." Seth managed to choke out, wide eyed for a second and then he was looking mischievous.

"Mum awake yet?" He asked mischievously, knowing she was.

"Yeah I think so" I glared, warning him with my eyes that if he ratted me out he was a dead man.

"Wonder if she'll make bacon if I ask" He smiled his understanding but the mischievous look was still there.

"You know how to cook, idiot" I glared one last time before breaking off and moving to my closet.

"Yeah but we have company over" Seth's voice was nothing but cheer and I could hear him moving towards Bella. My bed springs creaked a bit as he sat on the bed. I growled lightly as I quickly grabbed pajamas from my closet for Bella and I.

"Breakfast isn't exactly a meal you go all out for when you have company" I kept my tone friendly as I turned to look at Seth.

Bella had the blanket held around her shoulders, sitting in the middle of my bed. Seth had sprawled himself out on the foot of the bed so his back was to Bella and he was looking at me. I appreciated that he was making an effort not to look at Bella even if she was wrapped in a blanket.

"Seth." I shot him a serious look.

"Leah." He mocked my tone and gave me a goofy smile. Bella giggled at Seth's tomfoolery.

"Get out of my room!" I yelled like I used to before we were wolves.

"Don't wanna" He stated stubbornly, his face determined.

Suddenly I felt like a young teenager again. When Sam and I used to hang out in my room and my annoying kid brother wanted to hang out with us constantly. I couldn't help but smile at the feeling of the memory and feeling in the moment I set the pajamas down. I saw Seth's smile waver as he tried to figure out what I was planning. I ran over and grabbed his ankles, yanking him off the bed before he could react. Seth's head hit the floor with a thud but he had his arms around me and we were rolling on the floor trying to wet willie each other. Bella shrieked with laughter as she watched us. Seth and I rolled into a wall with another loud thud.

"Kids!" Sue's voice called in a warning tone "If someone gets hurt or worse something gets broken I'm feeding you to the wolves."

Seth and I grinned at each other recognizing the old threat from our childhood, when the giant wolves were just a campfire tale.

"Seriously, get out of my room. You're stinking it up" I shoved Seth as I got up.

"I'm rubber you're glue whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you" Seth sang as he pranced out of my room.

Bella was laughing still and I could see tears rolling down her cheeks. I closed the door behind Seth and grabbed the pajamas again.

"You two are so similar sometimes" Bella's laughter was slowly calming down.

I feigned being appalled and shoved the pajamas back into the closet figuring Seth was going to tattle on me anyways.

"Could you grab my bag from my truck?" Bella inquired as she stood up and dropped the blanket on my bed. I nodded and walked over to her taking her in my arms, never having enough of her. She stood on her tip toes and kissed me lightly before whispering "Is your mom downstairs?"

I nodded, wondering what she was up to.

"Good I'm going to shower" She stated as she broke our embrace and left my room heading to the bathroom.

I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and went to my window, not wanting to deal with anyone downstairs. Opening it I stuck my head out the window and looked up and down the street to make sure no one was around. When I was sure the coast was clear I jumped from the window and jogged the short distance to Bella's truck. Once in the truck I easily found a gym style bag and threw it over my shoulder. A quick look up and down the street again before I jumped back through my window. With the bag I crossed the hall to the bathroom, knocked lightly and opened the door just enough to slide the bag in. I heard Bella call a "thank you" as I went back to my room. I quickly got ready in a light t-shirt and jeans. Once I was ready I pulled my laptop back onto my desk and looked at the abandoned house on google satellite. A quick look at the weather too, which was supposed to stay a light drizzle most of the day. It wasn't too far from here, we could make a day out of going there. I could pack a nice picnic lunch, maybe some flashlights. I closed my laptop, grabbed an old backpack from my closet then moved to the linen closet in the hall. Looking on the very top shelf I found the flashlights my father had put there incase the power went out. I grabbed two and shoved it in the bag. I heard the water of the shower stop and went back to my room. I opened the old blanket box at the end of my bed and pulled out an old tattered blanket, shoving it into the bag as well. I also grabbed a spare hoodie, for Bella, just incase. It was always good to be prepared for her. Just then Bella walked in wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans, her hair still wet from the shower. She set her bag down just inside the door and raised an eyebrow at the bag in my hands.

"I've got a fun idea for today" I smiled back at her.

"An outside plan?" She looked out the window, skeptically, at the light rainfall.

"It shouldn't be too bad where we're going" I grinned at her obvious curiosity. "c'mon let's get some breakfast, then we have to pack some lunch"

Before Bella could ask more questions I was already moving towards the kitchen with my bag, she followed close behind.

Seth was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal and mum was finishing a piece of toast. Bella and I quickly joined them with our own bowls of cereal.

"What are you two up to today?" Sue smiled kindly at myself then Bella.

"We're going exploring today" I smiled, not wanting to give too much away.

"Cool! Can I come?" Seth spoke around a mouthful of cereal.

"I don't know Seth...maybe you should stay home and help mum around the house." I avoided his eyes, knowing he could persuade me with his pouty face.

"Oh, yeah I guess" I could hear the disappointment "I could tell her about my day so far I guess" the disappointment was taken over with a mischievous tone.

I looked up and met his eyes, he wouldn't dare.

"Yeah? Not much has happened between you waking up and eating breakfast" I narrowed my eyes, suspiciously at him.

"Yeah but you know me, I could go on and on about minor things in great detail for hours" he smirked knowing he had me. He would tell her about what he saw when he burst into my room earlier.

"I guess you can come, I wouldn't want you to bore mum with your ramblings" I grit my teeth.

"Whatever secret you two are keeping from me, I don't care as long as you're not doing something illegal" Sue stated, with little interest, as she stood to take her plate to the kitchen.

Seth smirked at me victoriously. I turned to Bella with an apologetic look but she just smiled sweetly back at me.

"It'll be fun to have Seth come along on our mystery adventure" she reassured me.

"Hell yeah it is!" Seth stood excitedly and brought his empty bowl to the kitchen.

"Fine, but you have to pack the lunches!" I called after Seth, exasperated.

"Done deal" Seth called back which was followed by things banging around in the kitchen.

Bella and I finished our cereal quietly as I brooded over having my time with Bella disrupted by my baby brother. By the time I took our empty bowls into the kitchen Seth had a large pile of food packed in Tupperware and ziploc bags. I glared at him as I shoved a variety of sandwiches and finger food snacks into the backpack.

"Thanks Seth that all looks great" Bella smiled at him as she placed a hand on the small of my back for a second. I instantly relaxed my glare at Seth, as long as she was happy I wasn't upset.

"No problemo!" Seth grinned his charming boyish smile.

I slung the bag over one shoulder and moved towards the door.

"Are you kids going to be back for dinner?" Sue looked away from the TV to look at me.

"Yeah, thanks mum" I gave her a small smile.

Seth quickly moved into the living room, kissed our mother on the cheek, then darted out of the house.

"Mama's boy" I mumbled and followed after him.

Once we were all outside I took Bella's keys and instructed Seth to get in the bed of the truck. I opened the door for Bella and climbed into the drivers side. Every once in awhile I glanced at my phone, checking google maps. Seth would howl with laughter every time we turned a sharp corner and Bella would snicker at it. I smiled to myself and jerked the wheel to hit a pot hole. I heard a loud thump from the truck bed and looked in the mirror. I didn't see Seth's legs anymore. A second later Seth's laughing face popped up in the back window.

"Do that again Leah!" He called to me, excitedly.

Bella was giggling.

"Man I got so much air, did you see me?" Seth was yelling excitedly.

Bella was laughing with Seth now. I could feel the grin spread across my face. Bella leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"You have a really pretty smile" she was blushing ever so slightly when I looked at her.

I smiled at her and then pulled the truck onto the side of the road. Seth jumped out instantly and looked around as I turned the engine off. Bella was looking out the window, trying to figure out where we were too. I leaned over to her and she turned to face me. I kissed her quickly before hopping out of the truck. Before I even got around to the other side Seth already had Bella's door open, helping her out of the truck. As annoying as he was I did love the idiot.

"Where are we Leah?" Seth was practically bouncing around with excitement.

I threw the bag at him and he caught it. "We're going to check out an abandoned house" Seth's face lit up even more as he slung the bag over his shoulder.

"I thought this looked like a path!" Seth exclaimed as he took off down the very over grown driveway.

I turned to Bella and took her good hand.

"Is that alright?" I asked, just now realizing that maybe Bella wouldn't want to do this.

"Ofcourse, it sounds like fun" she stood on her toes and kissed my jaw before leading me after Seth.

It was slow going down the old gravel driveway because of all the undergrowth. Eventually, Bella stopped and I turned to face her.

"Are you okay?" I questioned, worried she had hurt herself.

"I'm fine, just need to take a breather" she smiled sheepishly and I could see her cheeks were flushed and he breathing a bit heavy.

I nodded then turned my back to her and crouched so she could hop on my back.

"Do you want a piggy back ride?" I turned my head to look back at her. "I'll go slow" I added my mind pulling up an old memory of Bella complaining to Jacob about getting sick when the leech ran with her.

She reacted to the last bit but I couldn't figure out what emotion it was.

"That would be nice actually" she sounded relieved.

Bella climbed onto my back and I began walking at a brisk pace. She rested her head on top of her arm, her nose and mouth right beside my ear. After a short while her breathing became even again. A few more minutes and we were at the house.

"Fiiiiinally" Seth whined. "I waited to go in cuz I knew you would kill me if I went in without you, but you were taking soooooo long" Seth's whining quickly turned to excitement.

I rolled my eyes and let Bella slide off my back before taking a moment to look at the outside of the house. It was incredibly small and run down, it looked like the forest was quickly taking it back. The house had somehow looked bigger in the picture. I sighed and moved to the front door, it was locked. I looked back at Bella and Seth, both looking at me expectantly. I turned back to the door knob and crushed it in my hand. After that it was easy to pull the knob off the door and gain access to the house. Once I opened the door I was hit with a strong musty smell. This place must have been sitting here for decades. The other two were now on either side of me and I spun Seth around to dig in the backpack. I handed Bella and Seth a flashlight and gestured for them to have at it. Seth ran into the house excitedly, his flashlight beam quickly disappearing into a room. Bella held the flashlight in her good hand and began exploring the house cautiously, I followed close behind.

"So what made you want to explore an old house?" Bella asked as we looked around what appeared to be a very tiny living room.

"Well it's pretty hard to get privacy in my house" I ran a hand through my hair "I figure it's about time I moved out"

Bella stopped just outside the kitchen. "You're thinking of buying this place?"

"Yeah, I've got some savings for college but now that's not really neededâ" I trailed off not wanting to face the reality that my life got turned upside down because I phased.

"Oh" Bella moved and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Uhm, why this house though?" Bella asked, still holding me tight. "I mean it looks like a lot of work"

"It's really all there is in LaPush that's affordable with renovations" I explained kissing the top of her head.

"Hmmm" she mused and pulled free of our embrace.

"Well" she continued exploring. "I think it's a wonderful house." She stated genuinely.

I smiled at her.

As we explored the house we discussed renovations and where everything would go. It wasn't a horrible property it just needed some work. There was one bedroom, one bathroom and a small room that could be a small guest room or office. After thoroughly exploring the entire house we went out onto the porch. I laid the blanket out and Seth started emptying the food from the backpack. We all began eating, Seth had packed a large variety of food. Then I heard movement in the woods, Seth must have heard it too because he paused his eating. We both listened and Bella picked up on it and stopped eating too. Seth and I relaxed once we recognized that it sounded like a deer. I turned and smiled at Bella.

"Take some trail mix in your hand and stand very still over there" I pointed to a spot on the driveway near where the deer would most likely come out.

Bella did without questioning me and stood as still as a statue, squinting into the woods. Very slowly the deer stepped out of the brush, sniffing the air cautiously. It zeroed in on the trail mix in Bella's hand. It took cautious steps towards Bella. She was grinning from ear to ear and looked up at me quickly then back at the deer. The deer was incredibly tense but reached its snout out to her hand and started eating the trail mix.

"Leah come and bring it more trail mix" Bella whispered. The deer's ears twitched but it kept eating.

I stood and grabbed a fist full of trail mix and began walking towards the deer, very slowly. The deer's head shot up and it sniffed the air just before taking off into the woods again.

Once we finished lunch we decided to check out the property line too. Seth disappeared behind the house and his wolf came back.

"Seth you idiot, how do you expect Bella to come along?" I shook my head at him.

His wolf came right up to Bella then laid on his stomach, looking up at her with gentle eyes.

"No, no fucking way. You'll jostle her too much, she'll slide off" I scolded Seth.

"I'll be fine" Bell had a stubborn look of determination on her face as she reached her hand out to Seth. She stroked his head once before hopping on his back. Seth stood slowly and she wobbled slightly before gripping the fur on his neck tightly with her one good hand. I tensed up, grabbed the spare hoodie and walked over to the two. Bella was adjusting herself, looking for the most stable way to stay seated on Seth. I draped the hoodie around Seth's neck and tied it. It looked like a large collar on an enormous dog. Bella held onto the hoodie instead then grinned down at me.

"I'm going to run beside you incase she starts slipping so I can yell at you" I sighed at Seth.

"I'll be fine" Bella insisted before squeezing her legs around Seth's torso. "Onwards my trusty steed"

They were a little awkward at first and there were a few close calls with low hanging branches. I ran beside them worrying the whole time and watching Bella. After a little while they seemed to get a rhythm and looked a lot more stable. I was able to relax and start to take in the large property. We weren't sure where the property lines were but there was an old farm fence that ran along some lines. From what I could tell this property had a small backyard but a large chunk of forest. This would be great for phasing quickly and I could get almost anywhere in LaPush from these woods.

Suddenly Seth stopped and whined. I quickly pulled Bella off his back and into my arms, looking around the woods for the danger. Seth phased back which made me relax, that meant there was no immediate threat in the area.

"What is it?" I asked, Bella and I looking away from him while he pulled his clothes on.

"Jake, he phased while I was running. He sensed Bella on my back and now he wants to talk to you." Seth said solemnly.

I turned to look back at Seth, he was in his shorts and had the hoodie around his neck still, but now it was loose and looked almost normal.

"Is he coming here?" Bella asked.

"No, he's headed to our house" Seth answered, never breaking eye contact with me.

"Let's go then" I said, I wanted to speak with Jacob as well.

When we pulled up in Bella's truck Jacob was waiting just inside the tree line by our house. I hopped out of the truck as soon as it was turned off and stormed over to him.

"If you ever touch her against her will ever again!" I growled, my face inches from his.

"She doesn't know what she wants" Jacob responded with just as much hatred.

"Please, just calm down!" Bella pleaded from Seth's arms where he held her back.

"Let me give you a clue, wait until she asks" I snarled shoving him back.

"Fine." He shoved me back "and she will"

At that last part I snarled and before Jacob had a chance to react I punched him in the jaw. I heard the sickening sound of breaking bones and smirked to myself as I shook my hand out.

"That's for Bella you bastard"

Jacob shook as he held his jaw, trying to put it in the right position.

"Hey, hey easy, let's take it down a notch" Sue demanded as she ran down the porch and got between Jacob and I. Jacob and I just glared at each other, recognizing that although Sue was not an alpha she was an elder and almost held as much authority.

"Yeah alright" Jacob grunted.

"Maybe you should go" I glared at Jacob.

Jacob turned without a word and jogged off into the woods. Sue quickly looked at my hand then at Bella with a sigh.

"Seth you can let her go now" Sue turned and went into the house shaking her head. Seth released Bella and followed our mother.

I stood watching the woods where Jacob had disappeared until I felt a tiny hand touch mine. I looked down at Bella as she turned my hand over in hers. She said nothing for awhile, just inspected the dark bruises on my knuckles.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked with a sigh.

"No." She stopped looking at my hand and looked off in the distance.

"He's still my friend.." she met my eyes.

"I know" I sighed wishing it wasn't true.

"He's nothing compared to you though. I...I love you more than anything." She looked at me nervously.

"I love you too" I smiled a little.

"And I'm glad you punched him" she smiled sheepishly.

"Well that sweet right hook of yours needed to cause some sort of damage" I smiled back at her and took her hand, leading her inside.

Author's Note: For anyone worried about the dirrection of this fic let me reassure you. This fic is a Bella/Leah fic that I am trying to keep as cannon with the real books. Obviously I've changed small events, and replaced Edward, but I'm trying to keep it as similar as possible.


	16. Alone at Last

Author's note: I've changed the rating of this story from teen to mature because this chapter contains graphic content that may not be suitable for ages under 18.

It had been a couple months since Jacob had confronted Leah on her front lawn. Since then tension between the two was still present but they stayed as civil as they could when on patrol together. Leah had closed on the abandoned house a week ago and begun the demo. Because of school, patrols and work Leah and Bella hadn't gotten a chance to spend as much time with each other as they wanted. Leah was sweeping the kitchen floor of the small house when she heard the familiar roar of her favourite truck. The truck moved slowly up the old driveway. Leah and Seth had only managed to clear large debris from it, but the driveway was still peppered with small obstacles. As the truck continued it's approach Leah sped up her sweeping efforts by sweeping the grime out the front door. She stashed the broom in a closet beside the front door and pushed her hair out of her face. She only then cursed herself for not leaving herself enough time to shower quickly. Leah had been sweating lightly and the airborne dirt had clung to her. Too late now, the truck was feet away and she was too excited to postpone seeing her girlfriend to hop in the shower. This would be the first time Bella properly spent time at her house. Bella had seen the house before and even helped with a few small things after school but Leah always insisted she go home for the night. This would be the first weekend either woman stayed in the rundown house. Leah started walking towards the truck as it slowed and parked.

"You know this is private property, right?" Leah smirked at Bella as the other woman hopped out of the truck.

"Really? I thought this was the country club" Bella feigned surprise.

"Well you're trespassing now, you better hope the guard dog isn't too close" Leah continued to smirk as she took Bella's overnight bag from her.

"I'm not too scared I hear the guard dog is a big softie under that tough exterior" Bella smiled up at Leah with admiration.

Leah laughed lightly and leaned down to quickly kiss her. "You're lucky you're so cute"

Leah took Bella's now healed right hand and led her towards the house, suddenly feeling a little anxious. She hoped Bella wasn't too disgusted or disappointed by the condition of the house. Once inside the door Leah stopped and watched Bella's reaction.

"Wow Lee, you've been busy" she tugged on Leah's arm, leading her further into the house.

"Yeah well I've got this real hot piece staying over for the weekend. I had to clean up a bit" Leah's cocky smirk surfaced again.

"Oh gosh, I should get out of your hair then" Bella mocked being flustered before turning in different directions looking for an exit.

"C'mere" Leah said low, pulling Bella tight against her.

Bella wrapped her arms around Leah's waist, all mocking gone from her expression as she got lost in Leah's deep black/brown eyes. Leah leaned down and kissed her, passionately. Bella sighed, content to stay like this forever. Too soon, Leah broke off and Bella whimpered softly in protest.

"Miss.Swan, I don't know what kind of woman you think I am" Leah exclaimed in a horrific southern accent as she lightly dropped Bella's overnight bag "but I am saving myself for marriage!" She made a dramatic face as she swept Bella up in her arms, lifting the small woman into a secure hug. Bella laughed loudly as her legs instinctively wrapped around Leah's waist, her arms finding Leah's neck.

"I missed you" Bella sighed as she buried her face in Leah's neck.

"Mmm...it's only been two days…" Leah practically purred as Bella gently kissed just below her jaw. "...eight hours aaaand" Leah swung them around so she could see the time on the old microwave " 27 minutes"

Bella pulled her face back from Leah's neck and screwed her face up "quit being an idiot and just say you missed me too"

Leah smiled at Bella with a dopey puppy dog face "I missed you more than you can imagine, so did my wolf"

Bella's face relaxed into one similar to Leah's. "When do I get to see her?"

Leah had discovered that although her wolf was apart of her there was something unique about being with Bella in her wolf form. Some guttural part of the imprint enjoyed being in a powerful form around Bella, solidifying that Leah could protect Bella indefinitely. Leah had felt weird mentioning it to Bella but Bella had broached the subject herself. Bella enjoyed the company of Leah's wolf just as much. She liked to draw the wolf or sit, wrapped up in Leah's soft fur just talking to the wolf about her day or listening to the world pass around them.

"Maybe in an hour or so" Leah's face lost it's love struck look and turned to an unreadable mask. The unspoken meaning behind the statement passed between the two women. Jacob was on patrol and wasn't due to be done for another hour. Bella nodded and then looked around, taking in the kitchen, noticing a sledge hammer.

"What were you up to before I got here?"

Leah followed Bella's gaze and smiled. "Just sweeping up some gross dirt from scraping the popcorn ceiling off"

Bella then looked up before her gaze returned to the sledge hammer.

"What's that for?" She inquired, jerking her chin towards the hammer.

"Well I'm going to take out those upper cabinets and replace them…" Leah admired Bella's excited curiosity.

"When are you doing that? I want to help" Bella finally looked back at Leah, her eyes alight with excitement.

"We can do it now if you want" Leah shrugged as she set Bella down. "But I'm not sure if you'll want to work in those clothes…"

"That's okay I packed working clothes!" Bella grabbed her overnight bag and was already moving towards the bathroom. Leah just laughed and started moving her few belongings off the kitchen counter. When Bella returned Leah had a few pieces of plywood on top of the counter to protect it.

"I'm glad you came to help, I needed some muscle in here" Leah grinned at Bella.

"Eyes off, I have a girlfriend" Bella failed to suppress her grin as she grabbed the sledge hammer.

Bella had a little trouble lifting the large hammer but refused to admit it or ask for help. She let out an excited war cry as she brought down the first cabinet. Within fifteen minutes Bella had all the upper cabinets in pieces all over the kitchen. She was breathing heavily and sweating but she gave Leah a huge grin.

"Pretty impressive, you're hired" Leah smiled, taking in every inch of her girlfriend.

Bella posed with the sledgehammer and flexed, quite proud of herself. Leah admired Bella as she posed and moved closer, so their chests were almost touching. Leah heard a small hitch in Bella's breathing before she set the sledgehammer down.

"And h-how do you plan on paying?" Bella tried to sound sexy but found it difficult to keep her composure under Leah's lust filled gaze.

"Well." Leah took the bottom of Bella's shirt in her hands. "I have a couple different forms of payment" she slowly removed Bella's sweaty shirt and tossed onto the small kitchen table. "It just depends on what you prefer"

Bella swallowed hard. She had wanted Leah since before they had started dating. Even if she didn't acknowledge it at the time. And now here Leah was, getting Bella all worked up when she was all gross.

"I uh-" Bella grabbed Leah's shirt and pulled it off, desperately, before closing the space between them and crushing her lips to Leah's. Leah groaned and it sent a jolt low in Bella's stomach. Leah's hands quickly found the button of Bella's jeans and undid them before slowly sliding them off Bella's hips. Bella wiggled out of her jeans and kicked them off. At the anticipation Bella felt another jolt travel low into her sex, igniting a small fire there. Leah growled picking up the scent of Bella's arousal and picked her up, pushing Bella's back against the kitchen wall. Bella moaned, biting down on Leah's lower lip. She fumbled with the clasp of Leah's bra before finally undoing it, she gave a triumphant squeeze of her legs, around Leah's waist. Leah broke from the kiss, to Bella's groaning protest. Leah smirked at her and shrugged out of her bra straps, letting go of Bella just long enough to remove it fully. Bella took her time sweeping her eyes over Leah's now bare chest, her lower lip pulling in between her teeth. Leah's smirk wavered slightly as her eyes traveled over Bella, still in her bra. Leah leaned in and began kissing and nibbling Bella's neck as she worked at quickly undoing her bra. Bella was glad to be rid of her bra and helped remove it from between them, hastily. Leah chuckled lightly and moved back to Bella's lips. Bella greedily attacked Leah's mouth. Bella could feel Leah shifting as she removed her own pants and kicked them to some random corner of the kitchen. Bella, now aware that both of them were only in their underwear gripped Leah tightly, pushing their bare chests together. Both let out their own soft moans at the feeling before Leah removed Bella from against the wall. She broke their kiss as she set Bella down on the kitchen table, kissing down her neck then moving along her collar bone. Bella sighed, enjoying the feeling of the delicate kisses, and ran her fingers through Leah's hair. Leah moved her kisses lower and took one of Bella's nipples in her mouth, gently circling it with her tongue. Bella's breath caught in her throat and she gripped Leah's hair, hard. Leah smirked to herself and continued her path down Bella's stomach, pausing at the waist of Bella's panties. Bella squirmed, impatiently.

"God.." she groaned as Leah kissed her inner thigh, careful not to get too close to where Bella wanted her most.

"Hmmm?" Leah asked dripping with mock innocence.

"You're such-" Bella's sentence cut short as Leah grabbed her underwear in her teeth. She looked up to make sure Bella was okay with where this was going. Bella's eyes were closed and she squirmed, taking the other side of her underwear in her hand and pushing it down hastily. Leah released the underwear and moved her mouth close to Bella's core. She gently brushed her lips across the top and Bella rocked her hips slightly.

"Leah" she moaned, slightly exasperated. Leah felt her own arousal rise as her girlfriend moaned her name. "You're such a tease" Bella groaned as she ran her hand through Leah's hair again. Leah smirked to herself again and gingerly licked Bella's clit. Her hips rocked against Leah's face and Bella's hands firmly rooted themselves in her hair. Leah was getting more turned on by every moan and hip movement Bella made. Leah began to touch her own clit as she buried her tounge inside Bella. She moaned against Bella, sending vibrations into her clit, just from the taste of her.

"Fuck!" Bella gasped, she opened her eyes and looked down at Leah, realizing she was touching herself. Another jolt of arousal shot through Bella.

"Oh fuck, Leah" she groaned as her head fell back, her eyes closing again.

Leah moaned against her again, loving the way Bella said her name. Bella's hands tightened in her hair even more and her hips rocked faster.

"Leah…" Bella was having trouble composing a proper sentence. "I'm going-" Leah began licking her clit again and Bella cut herself off with a loud moan. Leah could feel herself getting close to her climax and started licking Bella faster, losing herself in Bella's pleasure. Leah started moaning louder against Bella, causing the other women's leg to start shaking. Bella cried out as her entire body tensed and began to shake. Leah couldn't contain her excitement and began shaking as she reached her climax with Bella.

Bella slowly released Leah's hair and let her body relax with a content sigh. She watched as Leah stood, her signature smirk plastered across her face causing Bella to blush fiercely. Leah smiled and pulled Bella into a hug, kissing her passionately. Bella sighed, happily and wrapped her arms around Leah's neck, deepening the kiss. Leah broke the kiss and smirked at Bella.

"How about a shower?"

"That sounds like a great idea" Bella laughed lightly, even more sweaty now than she had been before. Bella looked in the direction of the bathroom, wondering if they'd both be able to fit in the shower.

Leah laughed and lifted Bella, like she normally did and out of habit Bella wrapped her legs around Leah's waist. Now that both women were naked Bella's sex pressed against Leah's, her cum now rubbing off on Leah. Bella blushed and looked from the bathroom back at Leah. Leah met her gaze with lust and kissed her more fiercely than before. Bella could feel herself getting horny all over again. Her nipples stood at attention and she began to grind her hips against Leah's, her cum making her slide effortlessly. Leah growled, seductively and started moving them into the bathroom. Once in the bathroom Leah pinned Bella against the wall of the shower and turned the water on. Leah began to grind her hips against Bella, roughly, causing her to cry out, breaking their kiss. Bella was already so close to getting off again but she didn't want it to end so quickly. She also wanted to make sure she returned the favour and pleasured Leah. Bella grabbed Leah's breasts in each hand, trusting Leah to continue to support her against the wall, and began to pinch her nipples. Leah growled and tightened her hold on Bella, almost painfully.

"Fuck Bella" Leah managed between clenched teeth. Bella could tell the other woman was holding something back from her. Bella didn't want her to hold back, she wanted Leah to feel as good as she had.

"More Leah" she moaned as she spread their lips more so their clits would touch.

"Fuck I can't" Leah groaned as she made to pull away.

"Whatever it is I want you to" Bella wanted all of Leah. She didn't know what Leah was talking about and she didn't care.

Leah let out a growl that was more animalistic than human and bit down on Bella's shoulder, hard, right as she began to shake and grind against Bella hard and fast. Bella cried out in simultaneous pain and ecstasy as she came, again.

After they came down from their orgasms Leah looked at Bella sadly.

"God Bella, I'm so sorry." She shook her head as she hung it in shame.

"For what?" Bella demanded, almost offended that Leah would be ashamed by anything they just did.

"For your shoulder!" Leah looked up, momentarily astounded then angry.

Bella looked down to where Leah bit her and could see an ugly bruise was already starting to form. In the middle blood was mixing with the water from the running shower, and rolling down her arm. She looked back at Leah who was watching her with deep worry lines across her forehead.

"I'm not sorry" Bella stated. She was pretty frightened by the sight of the injury but it didn't hurt that much. Bella was such a klutz that she had felt much worse.

Leah kept apologizing as they stepped out of the shower. Both having given up on the prospect of properly washing. Leah found a first aid kit that she explained she brought here because she knew Bella was going to get hurt doing one thing or another. And quickly covered the bruising skin under a gauze.

"It's really fine" Bella tried yet again to put Leah's mind at ease as they cuddled naked in the master bedroom. The bedroom wasn't much yet, just a mattress on the floor and Leah's laptop on a kitchen chair, streaming Netflix.

"I knew I shouldn't have done it, I should have had better control of myself"

"You mean you specifically wanted to bite my shoulder?" Bella was confused now, she thought Leah had bitten her in the heat of the moment.

"Yes but-well no" Leah sighed, paused for a moment to gather her thoughts then continued "I didn't want to bite your shoulder specifically but my wolf wanted to mark you" she looked at Bella to ensure she was following so far. "We mark our imprints as ours with a bite...well we have the urge to some of us can control ourselves to save our imprint the pain…" Leah's face twisted into one of anguish and Bella rolled on top of her, kissing her gently.

"So you marked me? How?" Bella asked, curious and flattered.

"I mean that bite wasn't too bad and it was only one but it's going to scar. My teeth are meant for killing leaches and whatever 'poison' I have in my saliva that kills leaches, scars on humans" She looked into Bella's eyes, apologetically.

"So you're saying I have this super personalized scar that brands me as your girlfriend?" Bella asked, smiling happily as she traced her finger along Leah's lips.

"I mean yeah I guess that's a good way of putting it. My scent will be stuck on you, more than it is when you hang out with me. It tells leaches not to fuck with you" she smiled weakly. "And other wolves…" she trailed off her weak smile completely disappeared.

"Well I think it's kind of romantic" Bella stated which plucked Leah out of her own thoughts.

"You are a strange one" Leah couldn't help but laugh at how absurd she thought Bella was being.

"Yeah yeah" Bella rolled partially off of Leah so she could watch the movie that was playing but keep her head on her base chest.

"Next time ask me which shoulder I want though. My bite mark scars are on the same side it's just super uneven" Bella played at being upset.

Leah couldn't help laugh at Bella and wondered at her ability to turn anything around like that.


	17. Forgiveness

Bella awoke slowly and laid curled up against Leah's side for awhile. She was appreciating the warmth that radiated off of her and the deep woodsy smell that always seemed to follow her. Bella couldn't tell how much time had passed since she had woken up but her stomach rumbled.

Very carefully Bella disentangled herself from Leah and stood in the bedroom naked. She looked around and found a laundry basket full of Leah's folded clothes. She didn't want the pajamas she had packed. So she pulled a large t-shirt from the pile and examined it. The t-shirt would be huge on her but she noted that it would be large on Leah as well. She made a mental note to ask Leah later as she pulled clean underwear from her own bag. The t-shirt fit her more like a mini dress, falling halfway down her thighs. As Bella made her way to the kitchen she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and snapped her head around to confront it, surprised. She held a hand to her chest and willed her breathing to calm down as she stared, wide-eyed, at herself in the bathroom mirror. She stepped into the bathroom and looked over at the shower smiling to herself at the memory of what had happened there last night. She touched her shoulder and felt the gauze pad taped into place. Curious she pulled the neck of the t-shirt aside to expose the gauze before timidly peeling it off. Once she got a small peek she realized the gauze was overkill and ripped it completely off. She threw the gauze out and then used the mirror to look at the bite mark better. She ran her finger over the line of blood that had formed a scab while absently wondering what the scar would look like. Bella's stomach growled again, pulling her out of her thoughts. She moved back towards the kitchen, righting the neck of the t-shirt which just fell part way down her shoulder anyways due to the size of it.

Bella opened the lower cabinets in the kitchen, seeing what kind of ingredients Leah had stocked so far. She found that all the cabinets were bare except for one or two odd things. She moved to the fridge and opened it to find it packed with food. Bella supposed that Leah might not have too much time to do much proper cooking. As she accessed the fridge she pulled out some eggs and bacon, wishing she had found flour to make pancakes. She started the bacon and was humming to herself when she heard Leah's groggy voice.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?"

"Bacon and eggs. Did you want some?" Bella turned around and saw that Leah was only wearing boxers. She was leaning against the kitchen table, rubbing her eye as she smiled innocently at Bella.

"I would love some" Leah replied, noticing Bella staring at her.

"I can go put a shirt on if I'm distracting you. I'm not a huge fan of burnt bacon" Leah smirked at her devilishly, as she pushed off the table and turned to go back to the bedroom.

"NO!" Bella snapped back to reality then blushed at her outburst. "I mean you don't have to, you know if you don't want to or whatever…" She mumbled, trailing off as she turned back to the bacon.

Bella heard Leah chuckling followed by Leah's arms wrapping around her waist and her head resting on Bella's shoulder.

"I rather not, I get too warm" Leah kissed the inside of Bella's neck.

"Wait, so is that why everyone in the pack is shirtless all the time?" Bella inquired as she removed bacon from the frying pan and replaced it with the eggs she had scrambled.

"Partially the other part would be the expense of buying so many clothes when you shred them. The less you wear the less you have to replace" Leah laughed lightly in Bella's ear. "That's why you're wearing this lovely Vancouver shirt from the second hand store"

"I was wondering about that" Bella smiled and leaned into Leah, enjoying the contact.

"You really make that ugly shirt look good though" Leah laughed lightly and kissed her neck again, having trouble keeping her hands off of Bella.

Leah kissed further down her neck until she reached the bite mark. Here Leah, gingerly, kissed a circle around the mark and then laid a final kiss, the gentlest, on top of the mark. This sent goosebumps down Bella's arms and she sighed happily. Leah broke away from Bella as she saw breakfast was almost done being made.

"Oh! I'll make toast" Leah stated as she started towards the toaster.

As if summoning the toast it popped out of the toaster, perfectly browned. Leah turned and looked at Bella who was smiling back at her with a wide grin.

"Geez, I'm a shitty host" Leah joked as she took the toast out of the toaster and began buttering it.

"I like cooking, I would have told you to get out of my way anyways, if you tried to help" Bella scraped the eggs onto the two plates beside the stove, piling one much higher than the other. She quickly placed the bacon on the plates and looked at Leah, expectantly, waiting for the toast.

"You must be hungry" Leah teased as she placed the toast on their plates and took the smaller of the two over to the small kitchen table.

"Very funny" Bella rolled her eyes as she brought the larger plate to the table and swapped it for Leah's.

Leah grinned and then kissed her quickly before sitting down.

"Thanks for making breakfast, I was starving"

"Any time, so long as you continue to follow the dress code" Bella grinned at her girlfriend before taking a large bite of bacon.

Leah laughed at her bluntness and began eating too. She wondered at Bella's personality. She seemed so shy and uncertain of herself when they had first met. And even around others Leah had noticed Bella typically kept to herself. But now she was blatantly telling Leah to keep her top off. Leah smiled to herself, wondering how she had been so lucky to get such an amazing imprint. She had made excuses in the beginning that there was some sort of mistake because Leah could never be with someone so quiet and shy. Now seeing Bella completely at ease she understood why they were meant for eachother.

Once they were both finished eating Leah moved quickly and cleared their plates. She then disappeared into the bedroom only to return seconds later with a shirt and sweatpants in her hands. Bella raised an eyebrow at her in question but Leah didn't answer as she placed the sweatpants on Bella's lap. Leah walked past Bella and straight out the backdoor without a word. Curious she slid the sweatpants on and followed Leah into the backyard. By the time Bella had made it to the backdoor Leah had already dropped the shirt and her boxers by the back stairs and phased. She stood at the foot of the stairs, waiting excitedly for Bella to come outside.

"I've missed you too!" Bella exclaimed once she saw Leah's light grey wolf waiting for her. She rushed down the stairs towards the wolf and engulfed it in a strange adaptation of a hug. The wolf sighed, content, as it lowered its head to reciprocate the strange hug. Bella broke from the embrace and took a step back, taking time to admire the wolf. They stared into each other's eyes time seeming to lose relevance.

'Jesus Leah, I thought Jared was nauseating with the lovey dovey stuff' Paul snorted through Leah's mind link. 'You know I never pegged you as the hopeless romantic type. I thought you were more the cynical bitch type'

Leah snorted in disgust 'Fuck off Paul, let me have some peace and quiet for once'

Bella didn't know what was happening but she saw the change in Leah's eyes and stance. She figured someone else was phased, they were probably talking. Bella moved further into the backyard, carefully stepping around twigs and pinecones with her bare feet. Leah followed close behind, making sure Bella was okay.

'Interesting scent coming off of Bella…smells a lot like arousal' Paul prodded 'What did you two get up to?' Leah could feel Paul's smirk.

Leah was very practiced at shielding her thoughts from the pack and had no trouble keeping her intimate night out of Paul's reach. What she couldn't help was her eyes wandering to the mark that was visible on Bella's shoulder, the neck of the t-shirt being so large. Leah quickly snapped her eyes to the forest beyond Bella, but the action was too late. Paul had seen the mark too.

'Well hot damn Leah, quit holding back. Show me everything' Paul pushed and she could feel him howl with excitement, somewhere far from where she and Bella were.

'Paul, next time I see you you're done' Leah threatened, low, her wolf growling out loud.

Bella stopped her careful hike across the backyard to turn and look at Leah, concern written across her face. Leah stopped growling and nuzzled her nose against Bella's cheek to reassure her everything was okay.

'Well what good is having a lesbian in the pack if she's not going to share her sexual exploits' Paul grumbled. 'C'mon Leah just a little sneak peek, I won't tell Bella' He pushed again.

Leah laid down on the edge of the forest and looked up at Bella, inviting her to join her on the ground. As Bella half sat half laid against the wolf Leah opened up some memories for Paul. She was remembering the times her and Sam had been intimate. Sam on top of her, his face sweaty, his groans with every thrust.

'NO! Leah stooooop' Paul cried out in agony.

Bella ran her hands through Leah's fur and Leah curled her tail around her, protectively. Leah remembered how it felt when Sam was inside of her, how it felt when he came inside her.

'Leah pleeeease!' Paul whined 'I don't want to feel the Alpha fucking me'

Leah made sure she was remembering every little detail of her and Sam together. It no longer hurt her to think about it. Now that she had Bella the memory of her almost husband could be used as ammunition against the others. She smirked, victoriously, to herself.

"Who's on patrol?" Bella asked as she watched Leah's face.

Leah snorted, shook her head and covered her eyes with one large paw.

"Hmm…" Bella mussed. "Paul?"

Leah nodded her head and removed the paw from her eyes giving Bella a small wolf smile.

"Does he know about?...us? Er…" Bella blushed furiously.

Leah shook her head, hating that she couldn't be in her wolf form without Bella worrying about thoughts or private moments slipping into the pack mind. Leah sighed and placed her large head in Bella's lap.

"Good" Bella stated firmly "If it's going to filter into the pack mind I want him to be the last one to know, just to mess with him"

'Yeah she's perfect for you' Paul grumbled 'You're both cynical'

Leah nuzzled tighter against Bella, trying to tell her how much she loved her. Bella laughed lightly and played with Leah's ear.

"I take it he didn't like that?" Bella asked, the smile present in her tone. "Hey Paul, you know you can find porn on this thing called _the internet_" Bella emphasized the internet like she was speaking to a toddler.

'Don't fuck with my imprint, Paul, you'll be in way over your head' Leah's heart swelled with pride.

'Yeah yeah whatever. You two are freaks anyways, hanging out in your wolf form all the time' Paul grumbled before making it obvious he was trying to ignore Leah.

Leah snorted, agitated feeling self conscious about Paul calling them out like that. It wasn't out of the ordinary for imprints and wolves to spend time together. However, most imprints would see their wolves for a few minutes maybe once a week. It had become a bit of a joke within the pack that Bella liked Leah as a wolf more than a woman, because of all the time the two spent together with Leah phased. Most days it didn't bother Leah because she knew Bella was happy. But Paul was getting to her more than usual today.

"What's got you all upset?" Bella asked as she stroked the fur on Leah's snout.

Leah sighed under Bella's touch and relaxed the musscles she hadn't realized she was flexing.

"You know they're all just immature boys" Bella comforted her, guessing that Paul was still teasing Leah.

Sometimes when they spent time together like this Bella felt a bit guilty. She knew the guys bugged Leah about their relationship and it was a lot easier to do with the pack mind. Or at least that's what she had gathered from her understanding of the mind link. But Bella enjoyed their peaceful time as imprint and wolf. She couldn't explain it if her life depended on it but there was something so soothing about running her hands through Leah's fur. She loved laying in the middle of the woods with her, just forgetting the outside world. They had laid in the woods as two women too but there was something about Leah's wolf that made Bella feel connected to the forest. Something ancient and magical that made her feel like she could almost feel her soul. Bella had yet to try and explain this to Leah due to lack of words for it but also because she knew it would make it to the pack over time and she wasn't sure she wanted them to know about it. Bella felt like their time together like this was only meant for the two of them.

Leah's head lifted and her ears twitched, Bella took note of it. She watched as Leah's eyes focused on the house. Bella wondered what she was hearing and strained her ears to see if she could hear it too. There was something faint but Bella wasn't sure if she was just imagining it. Leah turned her head to look at Bella apologetically and then right in front of Bella's eyes Leah shifted back to human. Bella could feel the body against hers quickly turn from fur to flesh. She sat on the forest floor now, shocked by the sensation. Then she was in Leah's arms, being carried bridal style back towards the house.

"What is it?" Bella whispered to Leah, her mind running wild with thoughts of rogue vampires.

"I'm not sure yet, sounds like dirt bikes. Could be the vandals that smashed the windows on this house before I bought it" Leah shrugged as she deposited Bella at the base of the back stairs.

"I just want you somewhere safe in case something doesn't go so…" Leah paused in thought as she pulled her boxers and t-shirt on "so friendly" She decided.

Both women walked through the house and Leah paused at the front door.

"Will you wait in here if I ask?" Leah sighed looking at her stubborn girlfriend.

As answer Bella walked out onto the porch followed, quickly by Leah. Leah's face turned to a scowl as the wind blew down the driveway, towards her, giving her the scent of the approaching people. Bella could hear the dirt bikes now and something in the back of her mind twitched. Something was familiar, an old memory was trying to surface. She turned and saw Leah's scowl, then she started to put hypothetical pieces together. Just as Bella started to make assumptions two dirt bikes turned the final bend on the driveway and her guessing was right. Jacob and Embry rode up to the house all smiles.

"Jake!" Bella cried out in excitement and forgetting her lack of shoes started down the porch steps.

The boys pulled up, close to the porch, and killed the engines. Both hopped off the bikes and Jacob caught Bella, as she flew at him, in a tight embrace. He laughed and picked her up off the ground.

"Man Bells, where are your shoes?"

"Oops" Bella blushed lightly at her obvious display of excitement for the boy.

Jacob laughed lightly and set Bella down on the bottom step of the porch. Leah walked down to stand beside her girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her waist. Jacob stepped back and was able to see Bella fully now. He noticed the neck of the large t-shirt sliding down her shoulder and very clearly saw Leah's mark on his best friend. He grimaced for half a heart beat and then his smile returned.

"I thought maybe we could go for a ride" Jacob smiled at Bella, paying little attention to Leah.

"Jesus Jacob, last time she rode that thing she split her head open" Leah protested, visions of Jacob's old memory flashing across her mind.

Bella stepped out of Leah's arm and looked up at her with a frown "Now I know what not to do" She had a stubborn look in her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"Well I was thinking about that too" Jacob frowned a little and moved towards Embry who handed him a large duffle bag.

"I uh, bought some riding gear for you" Jacob held the large duffle bag out to Bella.

Bella took the bag and held it out to Leah, which Leah took and held as her girlfriend opened it. Bella pulled out a dirt bike helmet and could see other pieces of hard plastic inside the bag, all of varying colours.

"That was a decent idea" Leah looked at Jacob, trying to find a reason to tell him off.

"Yeah this will be great!" Bella exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of dirt bike pants that had padding built into certain spots like the knees. She shoved everything back into the bag and took it from Leah. "I'll be right back!"

Bella disappeared into the house with the bag. Once she was gone Leah walked up to Jacob and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you playing at, Black?"

"Look, I've been thinking about what happened. I just want to be her friend again, I miss her. And I can tell she misses me." Jacob responded, having the decency to look ashamed of himself.

"You don't know that" Leah tried to be argumentative.

"No, but you do" Jacob responded looking her straight in the eye.

She did. Bella always reacted strangely when Jacob's name was mentioned. She even asked Leah how he was doing every once in awhile. Leah knew Bella missed hanging out with Jacob but she had refused to acknowledge this until just now.

"Well as much fun as this situation is" Embry stated sarcastically as he started backing towards the woods "I've got to relieve Paul" He turned and jogged into the woods until they could no longer see him "OH, nice place by the way!" he called from somewhere in the woods.

Leah and Jacob stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Bella had returned. She was wearing a bunch of missmatching dirt bike gear which seemed to be every colour of the rainbow. She was carrying the duffle bag which seemed to have more pieces in it still.

"I don't know how to put the rest of this on" She stated with a shrug, setting the bag down on the porch.

Jacob moved towards the bag and removed another piece of plastic, moved towards Bella and then stopped.

"Can I help you put the rest of this on?" He looked to Bella for permission and then gave Leah a shy smile.

He was making an effort on his end to be sure he was asking permission to interact physically with Bella. Jacob really did want his friend back, he felt lonely without her even when surrounded by his other friends. He couldn't explain it but his friendship with Bella was special.

By the time Jacob had finished helping Bella into all of the protective gear she looked like a plastic action figure. The only exposed skin on her was the gap in the helmet for her eyes and even then there were goggles resting on the top of the helmet.

"There now you look like a professional rider" Jacob stated as he stepped back to assess his work.

"Where did you get all of this?" Bella asked as she watched her hands as she flexed them in the padded gloves.

"Same place all us wolves get our stuff, the second hand store." Jacob replied a bit sheepishly. "It would have been too expensive to buy brand new" he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

"It looks fine, Jacob" Leah reassured him.

Bella and Jacob turned to look at her, wearing identical looks of disbelief. Leah shrugged and moved down the porch to look at the dirt bikes. She knew Jacob had fixed them up with Bella, well more for her than with her. Once Leah moved past the fact that Jacob had a crush on Bella she could appreciate everything he had done for her. She turned back and looked at the other two, who were still watching her, shock and disbelief stunning them into silence.

"Well, I would love for a nice girl to give me a ride on her dirt bike…" Leah smiled lightly at Bella "but I suppose no one plans on riding these today?"

Leah's comments snapped Jacob and Bella out of their shock instantly and both moved to their respective bikes. Leah helped Bella lower her goggles over her eyes and Jacob kicked his bike to life. Leah stood aside and watched Bella kick her own bike to life after a few failed attempts. Then Bella turned to Leah, her eyes dancing happily.

"Hop on" Bella yelled over the engines.

Leah did as she was told and then wrapped her arms around Bella's armoured stomach.

Jacob leaned close to Bella "you remember how to use this thing?"

To answer Bella put the bike into gear and let the clutch out slowly, remembering the first time she had let it out too fast. Bella led them up the driveway and was laughing loudly as Jacob rode beside them. Jacob laughed with her, and Leah realized she had never seen Jacob smile like this before. Sure he smiled but right now he looked like a kid, he reminded her of Seth in that moment. She shook her head willing herself to fill with hatred for Jacob again.

All of a sudden Bella started to howl like a wolf, as loud as she could and Jacob quickly joined her. Leah sat stunned at Bella's carefree excitement.

"Come on Leah I know you've got a loud one in there!" Jacob yelled across to her before taking a large breath in. On the exhale he let out a howl as loud as he could and Leah could feel Bella laughing against her body. Leah smiled to herself and let go of Bella, pushed up off the dirt bike so she was airborne. Before she hit the ground she had phased and jogged to catch up to the bikes. Bella hadn't noticed Leah had let go because of all the padding and plastic she was covered in so when Leah's wolf saddled up beside her she started slightly. Once Leah was in between them she let out the loudest howl she could muster.

"Yeah!" Jacob cheered as he revved his engine.

They rode/ran up and down the driveway for a half an hour before stopping. Bella went inside to change and fetch Leah some clothes.

"You know we don't have to be enemys" Jacob had turned to Leah once he knew Bella was out of earshot. "We both want her to be happy"

Leah narrowed her eyes at him, mentally cursing her inability to talk right now.

"Yeah I know I kissed her, it was stupid. I know" Jacob sighed running his hand through his hair.

"It was just so" he sighed again and looked Leah in the eyes "first the leach and then the imprint. I've loved her since we were kids, it was hard to handle. I mean it hurt you when Sam imprinted on Emily right?" Jacob asked, rhetorically.

Leah snarled at him, baring her teeth, and crouched into an attack stance.

"Okay, sorry wrong thing to say" he held his hands up in the air, defensively. "I just can't not have Bella in my life. So if that means we're just friends then so be it. I just want to make sure she's happy too" he lowered his hands with a shrug and shoved them into his pockets.

They both heard Bella coming back and Jacob knew his chance at a one-sided conversation was over. He looked down at his feet and kicked at the gravel driveway, being sure to make it obvious he couldn't see Leah. Leah phase back and took the clothing from Bella.

"Thank you" Leah placed a quick kiss on Bella's forehead.

Once dressed Leah looked over at Jacob who was looking away from her. Bella watched Leah, wondering what she had missed, Jacob looked pretty dejected. Leah walked over to him and slung her arm around his shoulders.

"When the hell did you smarten up, Black?" She poked him in the ribs with her other hand.

"I would say about two days ago when my dad gave me a good talking to" he responded grinning at her before moving out from under her arm and poking her back.

"You're dad is a smart man, you're lucky to have him" Leah praised as she started walking towards the house.

"Your mom is pretty wise too" Jacob nodded once and followed after her.

"Wait one fucking second!" Bella shouted.

Jacob and Leah paused and turned around to look at her, both with faces that reflected their question.

"What the hell happened out here? I was gone for like five minutes. Leah wasn't even human!" Bella stomped her foot to emphasize that she wanted an answer, now.

Jacob shrugged and looked at Leah.

"Don't look at me, you did all the talking" Leah shrugged back at Jacob.

"Just told Leah I was done being an ass is all" Jacob turned to Bella and shrugged again.

Bella looked between the two of them with narrowed eyes.

"You two are both asses" Bella stomped past both of them and into the house.

They looked at each other.

"Want to have a bonfire? I've got a lot of scrap wood that used to be cabinets that I need to get rid of" Leah asked Jacob as they followed behind Bella.

"Are you sure you don't want to build a dog house from it? Cuz it sounds like you'll need one to sleep in '' Jacob laughed loudly.

Bella turned around and he quickly stopped laughing.

"C'mon Bells, why so grumpy. Leah and I are playing nice now" he grinned down at her as they all gathered in Leah's kitchen.

"You two were so upset with each other you made me have to choose between you both. I hated it!" Bella crossed her arms but the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

"But you still love us" Leah smiled and pulled Bella's back against her chest, hugging her from behind.

"Yeah, yeah" Bella grumbled.

Jacob looked at the disaster that was the kitchen and whistled low.

"You weren't kidding about all the cabinets, it looks like a tornado blew through here"

Leah laughed and kissed the top of Bella's head, affectionately.

"Leah told me she needed the cabinets taken down, she didn't specify how tidy I had to be" Bella stuck her lower lip out in a stubborn pout.

"Damn you did all this?" Jacob looked around, a bit more impressed at Bella's demo.

"Yes." She narrowed her eyes at him "I'm not as fragile as you think"

Jacob raised his hands defensively "I didn't mean anything by it"

Bella huffed, not completely convinced by Jacob.

"Well do you want some help moving it all outside?" Jacob asked while bending to pick pieces up.

"Yeah, actually that would be great" Leah smiled and released Bella, moving to pick up a few pieces herself.

The three of them had all the cabinets cleared out of the kitchen in an hour and had created a large pile in the backyard.

"Damn, there was more there than I thought" Jacob muttered as Bella threw the last pieces onto the pile, unceremoniously.

"Well I'm going to head to Emily's I'm starving" Jacob smiled at the two women.

"Oh man, I'm pretty hungry too" Bella groaned as she rubbed her stomach for dramatic effect.

"Yeah I'm starving too, we should head to Emily's as well. I don't have much in the fridge to make a nice lunch" Leah frowned a little making a note to stock her kitchen better.

Bella drove herself and Leah to the Uley house with Jacob following close behind on his dirt bike. They parked beside a couple other vehicles and walked as a group into the house. There had been idle conversation in the house but it died quite quickly when the occupants of the house noted who had just entered.

"Geez, don't everyone stop having fun on our account" Jacob grumbled looking around the living room.

"Welcome to my world" Leah laughed as she led Bella into the kitchen.

"When the hell did you two become best friends?" Quil questioned Jacob, in the living room.

"Shut it wise guy" Jacob retorted.

Leah walked over and gave Emily a tight hug, waves of remorse washing over her. She had missed her cousin.

"I missed you too" Emily stated, understanding the meaning behind their long embrace.

Leah had been avoiding the Uley household even after she had imprinted on Bella because she felt so guilty about how she had acted towards Sam and Emily. She wouldn't take back her actions or behaviours because she was upset about the whole situation. But after imprinting on Bella she understood what Sam had gone through and how Emily couldn't be blamed for any of it. Emily and Leah broke from their embrace and Emily moved to quickly hug Bella too.

"Lunch isn't quite ready yet, why don't you two go wait with the others?" Emily suggested.

"That's alright, I'd like to help" Bella smiled at Emily, feeling bad for all the cooking she had to do for the entire pack.

"Yeah I can help too" Leah chimed in.

"Oh no you don't!" Bella looked at Leah wide eyed "I still don't trust your culinary ability. Especially after seeing what you stock in your kitchen I think it's justifiable"

Leah pouted but knew it wasn't worth protesting because she wouldn't win the argument. She gave Bella a quick peck and went back into the living room.

As soon as Leah entered the living room all eyes snapped to her and the conversation instantly died again.

"Jesus, what?" Leah asked, irritated by the obvious attention.

"When did you mark her? It looked pretty fresh" Paul grinned, devilishly.

Leah growled at him and would have tackled him if he wasn't sitting on the couch beside Kim.

"You marked Bella?" Kim asked, sheepishly.

"Did you break the skin? Is it going to be a real mark?" Quil asked.

"If it did break the skin, she'll be the first one to actually mark" Jared stated to Quil.

"I told you it was okay to do it" Kim had turned back to Jared.

Leah stood there stuck between being furious and mortified. Jacob sat on the arm of the couch, looking out the window trying not to listen.

"So, did she like it?" Paul asked waggling his eyebrows "Is that the only mark you left? Or are there more we can't see?"

"Shut the fuck up, Paul" Leah and Jacob almost said in unison.

"Whoa no need to get all hormonal on me, ladies" Paul addressed Leah and Jacob.

Just then Sam walked in and Leah let out a relieved sigh. She hadn't been this happy to see him since he had broken off the engagement. He nodded once in the general direction of the living room, acknowledging his pack. He quickly moved into the kitchen, pulled Emily into a hug and kissed each scar on her face. Once he was satisfied he released her and smiled slightly at Bella.

"Hello Bella, it's good to see you again"

The last time Sam had seen Bella was when the newborn had broken Leah's ribs.

"You too" Bella mumbled shyly.

Leah was agitated by all the attention and made her way back into the kitchen, sitting herself up on one of the counters.

"Leah" Sam greeted her, cautiously.

Leah sighed and jumped down off the counter again. She opened her arms and raised an eyebrow at Sam.

"Come here" Her voice came out a little uneven.

Sam stood, shocked for a second just staring at Leah. Then he closed the space between them and they embraced for the first time since breaking up. They held onto each other for a long time, memories flooding back to both of them. Their hug was familiar and comforting. Emily watched with astonishment and Bella continued to chop vegetables, smiling to herself. When Leah and Sam broke from their embrace they both smiled at each other before moving back to their respective imprints.

"Why are you crying?" Sam asked Emily, his voice full of concern.

"We can finally be a complete family" Emily sniffled "I'm happy Sam" she looked up at him with watery eyes.

Sam chuckled and leaned down, kissing Emily passionately. And for the first time since phasing Leah didn't even notice their display of affection. She was too busy teasing Bella by trying to steal sliced carrot off the cutting board.


	18. Babies are Pretty Cute

After lunch the boys were tasked with clearing the table and cleaning up the kitchen. They didn't seem to be doing a good job of it however because as Emily, Kim, Leah, Bella and Sam adjourned to the living room they could hear whoops and laughter. Emily, Leah and Bella sat on the couch while Kim and Sam took chairs nearby. Leah wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders and Bella cuddled into her side, resting her arm across Leah's stomach.

"What time did you say Heather was coming by?" Kim turned her attention to Emily.

"She said she'd be here around one depending on how long it took her to get Claire into her car seat" Emily responded, smiling at the mental image of her sister wrestling her young niece into a car seat.

"Darn, I was hoping I'd get to see Claire before Jared and I left" Kim sighed.

As if summoned Jared entered the living room, his eyes instantly falling on Kim.

"Ready to head out?" He inquired, smiling the love sick expression all imprints had.

"Yeah I suppose we should" Kim smiled back at Jared as she stood. As she got closer to him her eyebrows furrowed. "What's in your hair?" She stood on her tiptoes and just managed to remove something resembling a cloud from his hair.

"What?" Jared leaned in to inspect Kim's finger with her.

"How did you manage to get bubbles in your hair?" Kim laughed as she wiped the bubbles on his shirt, walking past him into the front hallway.

"It was probably Jacob" He laughed as he followed her.

Their laughter faded as they left the house. Emily looked knowingly at Sam and he stood with a sigh.

"I thought I asked you guys to clean up not make a bigger mess" Sam stated as he walked back into the kitchen to see what kind of carnage the boys had created.

"Heather's bringing Claire down?" Leah asked Emily. "I haven't seen Heather since last Christmas. Actually I haven't seen Clair since then either…" Leah's voice trailed off as she thought back.

"Yeah, I told her to bring little Claire down any time she needed a break" Emily smiled at her cousin and there was a glint in her eye.

"Who are Claire and Heather?" Bella asked, piecing together that Claire was Heather's daughter.

"Heather is my sister and Claire is my niece" Emily beamed.

Bella nodded her understanding and quickly figured that Heather and Claire were technically Leah's family too.

"It's a bit of a drive to come down here…" Leah looked at Emily a bit closer. "Are they staying the night?"

"Claire is, Heather is using the time for herself" Emily responded, recognizing that Leah was catching on to something. "And well…"

"Well?" Leah narrowed her eyes at her cousin, knowing her too well not to recognize there was something else there.

"I'm watching Claire to get practice taking care of rambunctious kids…" Emily smiled slightly.

Leah nodded then her eyes widened with understanding, Bella continued to be oblivious to the implications of the statement.

"How long?!" Leah turned as much as she could towards her cousin without losing her hold on Bella. "Does anyone else know?"

"It's been about 15 weeks," Emily beamed as she rested a hand on her stomach.

"Congratulations!" Bella grinned, catching up with the conversation.

Leah took a good look at her cousin, noting that she was wearing a baggy shirt. But with Emily's hand on her stomach she could now see the small bump that had formed there.

"We didn't really want to tell anyone until we had to because of our whole situation" Emily looked at Leah, sadly.

Leah sighed, feeling incredibly guilty that her cousin had hid her exciting news because she hadn't wanted to hurt Leah even more. Leah took Emily's hand and squeezed it gently.

"I'm so happy for you and I'm so sorry for how I've acted."

"Don't worry about it, I'm just so happy I have my other sister back" Emily grinned at Leah.

Just then Quil came barreling out of the kitchen, his shirt and hair soaking wet.

"Claire's here!" He went and yanked the door open, disappearing outside.

Quil came back inside a minute later holding a toddler in his arms. He was followed by a tired looking woman. Emily stood and embraced the woman. "How was the drive?"

"If I hear the wheels on the bus one more time I might die" She grumbled as she returned the hug.

Leah removed her arm from around Bella, stood and moved towards the two women. When Emily and Heather released each other Heather's eyes fell on Leah.

"Leah!" Heather grinned as she moved towards her cousin. "How long has it been? God, I was so sorry to hear about your father" She pulled Leah into a tight embrace.

"Thank you" Leah mumbled as she returned the hug, not wanting to remain on the subject of her father she quickly released Heather and turned to Bella.

"Heather this is my girlfriend, Bella"

Bella stood and walked over to the women, her face turning a light pink. She always got overwhelmed with excitement when Leah called her her girlfriend. Bella held out her hand with a shy smile for Heather. Heather stood there for a moment, the cogs turning in her head as she tried to figure out when Leah had become gay. She only paused for a split second then smiled at Bella as she pulled her into a hug.

"It's nice to meet you Bella"

Bella blushed more, surprised by Heather's friendliness, but returned the hug. Once Heather had released Bella Leah moved to Bella's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Bella quickly wrapped her arm around Leah's waist, and Leah snuck a quick kiss on the top of her head. Heather watched this and noted that the way the two women interacted was eerily similar to the way Sam and Emily interacted. Her eyes widened.

"You two are imprints" She stated more than asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Leah asked.

"She knows about imprints?" Bella asked at the same time, looking up at Leah.

"Leah, I don't think I've ever seen you look at someone like that before" Heather rolled her eyes. "The way both your body languages change as soon as you touch is like a bright neon sign above your heads that says 'Imprints!'"

Bella blushed fiercely and Leah chuckled lightly.

"You'll see why she knows when you go meet Claire" Emily laughed, trying to relieve Bella by changing the subject by answering her question.

"Well tell Quil that Claire is here to visit her aunt and that he needs to share" Heather laughed and Emily joined her.

"Don't worry, Sam will make sure I get some time with my niece" Emily laughed as she walked Heather to her car.

Bella looked up at Leah, her blush still present but fading.

"Are we really that obvious?"

"Probably but who cares?" Leah laughed then she leaned down and kissed Bella, lovingly.

Bella sighed, and wrapped her arms around Leah's neck, wanting more. Leah's arms wrapped around Bella's waist, their kiss deepening.

"Ahem" Emily cleared her throat "I just need to squeeze by here" She stood just inside the front door.

Bella pulled away from Leah quickly and blushed bright red. Leah laughed loudly and took Bella's hand.

"C'mon let's go see my littlest cousin" Leah lead Bella back towards the living room.

Bella could see Quil laying on the floor on his stomach, he had his feet in the air and was kicking them lightly. All around him there was a collection of toys and arts and crafts products. Bella almost missed the small girl laying on the ground in a position almost identical to Quil's, about a foot away from him. The two of them were each holding a barbie and playing pretend with them. Bella noticed the way Quil was watching Claire and her breath caught in her throat when she realized what was going on. Leah held Bella at shoulder length and looked at her face in panic. Leah heard Bella's uneven breath and was suddenly very concerned. Emily didn't notice and walked past the two looking at her now destroyed living room.

"You two made a quick mess of this place" Emily playfully scolded.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Leah looked over Bella's face her own face filled with worry.

"They-he" Bella stammered "He imprinted on her" She looked past Leah at Quil who was now sheepishly looking up at Emily. The little girl wore a similar expression to Quil's and then pointed at him.

"Qweel did it" She insisted to her aunt.

Quil's head quickly snapped to look at the small girl, hurt.

"It's not what you think" Leah reassured Bella, her face relaxing "We've all seen how he feels about her. He sees her as a little sister." Leah released Bella's shoulders and took her hand again.

Bella looked past Leah and took in the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Claire-Bear!" Quil was still looking at her, hurt.

Claire looked from Quil to her aunt then back to Quil her eyes wide. Emily smiled lightly and when Claire looked up at her again, noting that she wasn't in trouble she broke into a giggle fit. She rolled onto her back and continued to giggle, Quil laughed too and moved close to her.

"You better watch that tummy Claire-Bear" He warned.

She continued to giggle, wiggling around on the floor.

"There's a raspberry monster here" Quil declared right before he leaned down and blew a raspberry on Claire's exposed stomach.

Claire screeched with laughter and playfully slapped her hands on Quil's head. Quil lifted his head and looked down at her solemnly.

"Oh no, the monster got poor Claire-Bear"

He leaned down and blew another raspberry on her stomach and her screeching laughter was even louder, she kicked her legs and wiggling. Quil lifted his head again.

"She was so young, she had so much ahead of her" He stated with mock missary.

He leaned down again and blew a third raspberry. Claire wiggled and laughed more. When Quil came up again she looked him in the eye.

"Qweel, stop"

It was like a light switch was being flipped, Quil smiled down at her and pulled her shirt back down to cover her stomach. Bella could see what Leah meant now. Claire rolled on her stomach and then stood up looking at Bella, curiously. Bella smiled at the small girl as she toddled over to her. Claire reached both arms up to Bella and looked her dead in the eye with steady determination. Bella laughed and let go of Leah's hand to scoop the toddler up.

"Hello" Bella smiled at the girl as she held her.

"I'm Claire" The girl stated, proudly.

"Hi Claire, I'm Bella"

Claire pointed at Leah "Aunty Lee"

Leah smiled and ruffled the girl's hair. "I can't believe you remember me you little tirant"

Quil stood up and groaned as he glanced at the clock.

"Guess I've got to go" He grumbled.

Claire's head snapped to look at him with as much anger as a two year old could muster.

"We was 'sposed to play pretty pretty princess"

"We can play tomorrow Claire-Bear" He smiled at her, reassuringly.

"Wanna play now." She pouted, crossing her little arms.

"I know Claire-Bear but I have to go help Uncle Sam" Quil tried reasoning with her.

"Butts!" Claire cursed.

"Calire!" Emily scolded.

Claire looked at her aunt sheepishly realizing she had been caught cursing.

"How about you play with Leah and I?" Bella asked the toddler.

Claire turned and grinned at Bella excitedly.

"Yeah!" She wiggled in Bella's arms and Bella set her down again.

Claire moved back over to the toy bin that was in the corner of the living room and started rummaging in it.

"If you girls don't mind watching her for a bit I'm going to go make sure Sam got the crib set up alright" Emily smiled at Bella and Leah.

Leah wasn't sure how Bella felt about kids and didn't want to force her to hang out with her cousin during their weekend together.

"Not a problem, Emily" Bella said as she moved to see what Claire was pulling from her toy box.

Leah smiled at her girlfriend and sat down on the floor, her back against the couch.

Bella helped Claire pull two tiaras from the box and a plastic tea set. Claire put one tiara on and gave the other to Bella.

"Lee? Tea?" Claire held the small plastic tea pot up to Leah with a small pout.

Leah smiled and took the tea pot into the kitchen where she filled it with apple juice. When she got back to the living room Claire was standing, with her hands on the coffee table, watching Bella set out tiny tea cups on little saucers. The three of them drank apple juice from tiny tea cups and Claire and Bella spoke like princesses about frogs and princes. Leah enjoyed watching the two interact and smiled to herself wondering if Bella and her would ever have their own family. Emily came back downstairs and joined the little tea party. A few minutes later Claire spilled apple juice all down her front and Emily said it was probably time for a bath anyways.

Leah stood and offered Bella a hand up. Once they were both standing Leah bowed lightly, still holding Bella's hand.

"M'lady, what do you wish to do now?" Leah held her low bow but looked up at Bella, mischievously.

Bella laughed lightly and playfully hit Leah on the shoulder. "Quit being an idiot"

Leah stood and quickly gave Bella a peck on the lips. "You look pretty cute in that tiara"

Bella rolled her eyes and removed it, placing it on the coffee table.

"Lets walk down to the beach"

"As you wish, m'lady" Leah bowed low again.

Bella pretended to be annoyed and pulled Leah out the door.

They walked hand in hand towards the beach.

"I didn't know you liked kids" Bella stated as they kept walking.

"You never asked" Leah shrugged.

"So do you want kids some day?" Bella asked, blushing slightly.

"I mean yeah but I can't really, you know…" Leah trailed off.

Bella looked up at her, curious as to what she could mean and saw that Leah was miles away. They continued walking in silence. Leah sighed and sat down on a piece of driftwood that had washed up on the beach. Bella sat beside her and leaned her head on Leah's shoulder. Leah wrapped her arm around Bella and sighed again.

"I wanted all of that before I phased. A husband, kids, a nice house, maybe a family dog. And I thought I might have that with Sam and then we broke up. So I tried moving past that and thought maybe I could have that with someone else and then I phased"

"Why would phasing change anything?" Bella inquired.

"Phasing while pregnant probably wouldn't work. Besides I haven't had a period since I phased so I just kind of gave up on the idea" Leah shrugged.

Bella snickered lightly, beside her. Leah tore her gaze from the ocean to look down at her, a little hurt.

"I'm sorry-I'm sorry!" Bella was still smiling as she tried to hold back her laughter. "But I mean have you even looked at me?"

Leah looked at her confused.

"Leah, I love you but sometimes you can be pretty dense" Bella smiled up at her girlfriend.

Leah frowned, hurt a bit more by Bella calling her dense.

"I'm a woman who can carry children if you hadn't noticed" Bella smiled at Leah, caressing her cheek. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings I just don't understand how you could have overlooked that"

Leah leaned into Bella's touch and smiled at her.

"I don't know, I wasn't sure if you'd want to have kids or if you'd want to deal with finding a donor or whatever" Leah shrugged, feeling incredibly vulnerable.

"Let's get one thing straight, I don't want to find some random donor I want to have your baby" Bella stated firmly.

Leah smiled, closed her eyes and placed her hand on top of Bella's that was still on her cheek. She turned her head so her lips were now resting on Bella's palm, she kissed her palm a few times and inhaled Bella's sweet scent.

"Why don't you let your walls down more often?" Bella asked quietly.

"Hmm?" Leah questioned as she kissed down to Bella's wrist, her eyes still closed.

"There's this soft side of you that you refuse to let anyone see. But when you let your guard down and let me in I feel so much closer to you" Bella explained.

Leah opened her eyes and met Bella's gaze, releasing her hand.

"I'm trying to let you in more, I've just been hurt so many times I forget a lot" The corner of Leah's mouth pulled down slightly.

"You know I won't hurt you, right?" Bella asked, her voice full of concern.

"I know you won't" Leah smiled at her "I love you" There was no trace of Leah's sarcastic smirk. Bella felt the full force of Leah's love and her heart jumped into her throat.

"I love you too" Bella choked out.

"Good cause that would have been awkward" Leah's playful smirk was back.

Bella rolled her eyes, pretending to be upset at Leah for ruining the heartfelt moment, but she couldn't keep a small laugh from escaping her mouth.


	19. Fighter's Stance

After leaving the beach the two women went home and cuddled each other before falling asleep. They had big plans to assemble the kitchen cabinets the next day and needed a good night sleep. Leah woke first the next morning and pulled Bella closer to her, taking a deep inhale as she rested her nose on top of her head. Bella stirred a bit in her sleep but seemed to gravitate towards Leah, putting an arm around Leah's bare mid drift. Leah smiled to herself and mentally pat herself on the back again for getting her own house. She loved being able to walk around the house naked, have her girlfriend sleep over without any stupid house rules and best of all was hearing Bella moan her name as loud as she could. Leah's body reacted to the memory and the familiar flash of heat shot down in between her legs. Leah kissed the top of Bella's head, smiling more as she thought about fucking Bella in every room in the small house. It wouldn't be hard there were only four left and the master bedroom was one of them. Leah smirked and wondered at making the master bedroom the last on her list, just for the irony of it.

Bella stirred again then she stretched her legs straight out before flopping one over top Leah's. Bella sighed contently and used her leg and arm to pull Leah even closer to her.

"Damn Bella, I don't think I can get any closer" Leah chuckled.

In response Bella opened her eyes and rolled on top of Leah, placing the side of her face on Leah's bare chest.

"You shouldn't lie to your girlfriend" Bella joked with a groggy voice.

"Well technically you got closer to me not the other way around. So I'm still right." Leah laughed lightly as she wrapped her arms around Bella's waist.

"Semantics…" Bella muttered as she ran her fingers along Leah's collar bone.

Leah sighed, enjoying the feeling and moved Bella's large shirt up, exposing her lower back. Leah ran her fingers along her lower back, just above the waistband of Bella's underwear. Bella sighed and turned her head, kissing Leah's chest before sitting up. Leah looked up at her, her hands holding Bella's hips.

"You're stalling, we have cabinets to instal!" Bella grinned down at Leah.

"I can get Seth to help me do that during the week, I want to spend time with you" Leah protested, rubbing her thumbs on Bella's hip bone.

Bella smiled and enjoyed the caress for a second before hopping off of Leah and moving to get out of the bed.

"I started that demo job, I want to see it all the way through" Bella grinned back at Leah before getting out of the bed completely.

Leah pouted and watched Bella move across the room to her overnight bag. Bella had her back to Leah and she pulled off the large t-shirt she had borrowed from Leah. Bella bent and reached into her bag and when she stood again Leah placed her hands on Bella's hips again. Bella would have started in surprise if it had been anyone else but she knew Leah was approaching thanks to the imprint. Bella couldn't say if she consciously knew that Leah was physically moving towards her or if the imprint just informed her not to panic when Leah touched her unexpectedly. Leah wrapped her arms around Bella's waist and pulled her into her body in a backwards hug. Bella felt her heart melt at the feeling of their bare skin against each other and placed a hand on one of Leah's forearms. Leah leaned down and kissed her mark, which was healing quite fast. Bella shivered and groaned audibly as her nipples perked. Leah could smell her girlfriend's sudden arousal and her eyes widened.

"Whoa…" Leah muttered. Curious she kissed the mark again and Bella's body reacted similarly. Bella turned in Leah's arms and kissed her fiercely, her arms wrapping tightly around Leah's neck. Leah wasn't about to protest, Bella was practically naked and she could smell her arousal even more now. Leah returned the kiss and deepened it by pushing Bella's back against the wall. Bella wrapped one leg around Leah's hip and Leah knew what she wanted. Leah obliged and lifted Bella by placing both hands on Bella's ass. Bella wrapped her legs around Leah and squeezed them tight. Bella couldn't understand how she had been turned from zero to one hundred so quickly but didn't care much. She just wanted and needed Leah right now, cabinets be damned. Leah smirked to herself and removed Bella from the wall, walking out of the bedroom and into the laundry room. Bella didn't care what Leah was doing and began grinding her hips against Leah's lower stomach. She wanted to be sure Leah understood what she wanted. Bella detached her lips from Leah's and started attacking Leah's neck with kisses. Leah moaned softly at the feeling and moved Bella so she was holding her just over the washing machine. Leah squeezed Bella's ass a few times before setting her down on the washing machine. Bella groaned in protest at losing Leah's contact but quickly quieted as Leah's hands moved up her thighs. Bella had different plans though she pushed Leah back, knowing that she couldn't physically do it but she also knew Leah would oblige. Leah looked at her confused and a little hurt as Bella hopped off the washing machine. Bella smiled at her mischievously as she pulled Leah's boxers off. Leah smirked her signature smirk, full of sure confidence, and Bella made it her personal mission to make that smirk falter. Bella pushed Leah again and Leah once again obliged, stepping out of her boxers and now standing in front of Bella naked. Bella took her time admiring her now naked girlfriend and when her eyes returned to Leah's face she saw that the smirk was more present. Bella gave her own little smirk and she saw Leah's falter only slightly as she tried to figure out what Bella was up to. Bella gave another push, hard, knowing it wouldn't affect Leah at all but would hopfully convay the message that she wasn't fucking around. Leah understood loud and clear and was now backed up against the counter in the laundry room, her eyebrow raised in question. Her eyebrow partnered with her smirk asked Bella 'What are you going to do now, Swan?' and she could almost hear Leah's voice saying it. Bella pressed her body against Leah's and attached her lips to Leah's once again. Leah returned the kiss but jolted in surprise when Bella's fingers pressed into her folds, finding her clit quickly. Leah moaned into Bella's mouth as the other woman played with her clit. Bella was getting more turned on by being in control of Leah. She liked knowing that Leah was strong and stubborn but doing as Bella wanted. Bella slid two fingers inside of Leah and found that she was already very wet. Leah broke the kiss to throw her head back and moan loudly, her one hand gripping the counter the other on Bella's hip. Bella smirked as she saw no trace of Leah's smirk present on her face anymore. Bella began thrusting her fingers and Leah's head fell forward. Leah began kissing along Bella's neck and nipping it gently. Bella could feel her underwear getting uncomfortably damp and wanted to be rid of them now.

"Leah?" Bella asked, breathily "My underwear" She squirmed a little to emphasise her request.

Leah didn't need the extra help to understand and pulled Bella's underwear down as far as she could reach. Bella felt the underwear fall around her feet and kicked out of them, thrusting a bit quicker. Leah moaned again and her one hand snaked between them, finding Bella's clit. Bella gasped and gripped Leah's ass with her spare hand. Leah began to play with Bella's clit, her movements quick not wasting time on warming Bella up. Bella almost came then just at the sheer relief of finally being touched. She wanted Leah to come first though so she added a third finger and pumped even harder.

"Bella, fuck!" Leah groaned loudly.

Leah then kissed down to Bella's mark and Bella gasped which quickly turned to a moan. Bella felt Leah's walls clamp around her fingers and Leah gingerly nipped Bella's mark while moaning loudly. Bella couldn't help herself and she came as soon as Leah nipped at the mark on her shoulder. Leah gripped the counter to keep herself steady as her legs shook violently. She could feel Bella losing the battle against her own legs and removed her hand from her clit to firmly wrap her arm around her waist. Bella removed her fingers from Leah slowly, and laid her head against Leah's bare chest breathing heavily. They held each other tight while they each tried to calm their breathing and will their legs to stop shaking.

After a while their breathing began to calm and Leah kissed the top of Bella's head.

"What was that?" Leah asked, a bit bewildered.

"I should be asking you that" Bella insisted, looking up at Leah. "As soon as you kissed that mark I remembered how it happened and what we were doing but it magnified how I was feeling at the time"

"But I've kissed it before and that never happened" Leah stated. "Not that I'm complaining at all" She quickly added.

"I don't know the other times I was thinking about what the mark meant and how loved I felt" Bella shrugged. "But even those times I felt the emotions way more than I usually do"

"So what you're telling me is that that mark is like a magnifier of your feelings towards me?" Leah waggled her eyebrows at Bella.

"I guess, is that how it is for the other imprintees?" Bella inquired.

"Er well…" Leah released her hand from the counter and rubbed the back of her neck. "You're the first and only to be marked so I don't really know…" Leah looked away from Bella ashamed of her lack of control yet again.

Bella placed her hand on Leah's cheek and turned her head to face her.

"Would you quit being all moody about that already?" Bella huffed.

Leah smiled at her weakly and kissed her forehead. Bella sighed in frustration and walked back to the bedroom. Bella quickly dressed in her renovation clothing and turned around to see Leah doing the same, pulling a paint splattered shirt over her head.

The two got busy assembling the Ikea cabinetry. Once they had all the boxes assembled Leah effortlessly lifted one and held it up against the wall where it was going to be mounted. Bella stood back and watched her girlfriend, admiring her strength.

"Enjoying the view?" Leah smirked at Bella.

"How strong are you?" Bella wondered, asking her own question as a response.

"I'm pretty sure I could do some damage to a vampire as a human" Leah shrugged "but I'm not too keen to test it out"

Bella nodded once, not expecting an answer that extreme. Leah repositioned so she was holding the cabinet with one arm and delicately took the drill from Bella. With the drill she quickly mounted the cabinet. She turned back to Bella as she placed the drill on the counter.

"Does that scare you?" Leah asked, her voice full of concern.

"No-no the opposite" Bella reassured her. "I was just thinking…" She trailed off.

"You were thinking?" Leah prodded as she leaned back against the counter.

"Well...remember when Mike asked you if you were a boxer?" Bella asked moving close to Leah so their chests were almost touching.

"Yeah…" Leah wasn't sure where Bella was going with this.

"You made it seem like you do know how to box" Bella answered, running her fingers up and down Leah's arm.

"My dad taught me how to fight a bit when I was younger. He said he wanted me to be able to defend myself." Leah smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying Bella's touch.

"Do you think you could teach me?" Bella inquired, preparing herself for the 'you're too fragile lecture'.

"Sure, I can get Seth over here to help too." Leah responded nonchalantly.

"Really?!" Bella couldn't contain her excitement and surprise as she stopped her fingers moving on Leah's arm.

"Yeah, why not?" Leah asked confused as she opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at Bella.

"Well, everyone always treats me like a delicate flower that always needs to be protected. And then they don't teach me how to protect myself." Bella frowned at the memory of her relationship with Edward.

"Well that's just ignorant." Leah rolled her eyes and pulled her phone from her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Bella eyed Leah's phone.

"Telling Seth to come over and bring the old boxing gear." Leah stated as if it were obvious.

"What about the cabinets?" Bella inquired as she eyed the assembled cabinets on the floor.

Leah gave her a devilish smile before sending a quick text to Seth. When Leah turned her attention back to Bella she found her imprint lifting a smaller cabinet and moving towards the wall.

"Damn Bella do you have a license to be wielding those guns?" Leah grinned wide as she moved to drill the cabinet to the wall.

Bella pretended to be annoyed by the line by rolling her eyes but struggled to suppress her smile. As the two were finishing up the last cabinet Seth walked through the front door in his cut offs and carrying a gym bag.

"Hey Seth!" Bella greeted the boy with a tight hug.

"Hey Bells!" Seth reciprocated the hug, being careful not to squeeze too hard.

"Hey Dipshit" Leah nodded once at Seth.

"Hey Dickweed, I brought the old boxing gear. Why do you want it?" Seth responded to Leah.

"We're teaching Bella how to fight" Leah gestured for the two to follow her to the backyard.

Bella prepared for Seth to protest about Bella being a fragile human.

"Cool" Was all Seth said as he followed Leah out the door.

Bella followed, happy that her new family was treating her as an equal rather than a delicate rose to only be looked at, not touched. Bella blushed slightly thinking about sleeping with Leah. Leah didn't hesitate at all to touch Bella. The only hesitation was because of her wolf wanting to mark her mate. Bella watched as the two siblings shoved at each other as they pulled things from the gym bag.

"Come here" Leah paused her mini scuffle with Seth to call Bella over.

Bella made her way around the pile of wood that was the old cabinets and stood in front of Leah. Leah was holding a boxing glove in her hands and the other was under her arm.

"Put your hand in here" Leah instructed.

Bella did as she was told and Leah helped her tighten the gloves.

"How's it feel? Good and tight?" Leah took a step back and admired her work.

"Feels weird" Bella looked at her gloved hands and punched them together, experimenting with the cushioning.

When Bella looked up she saw Leah wrapping her hands with two long strips of fabric. Leah noticed the curious look on Bella's face and smiled.

"You're meant to have this on under your gloves but we only have one pair. It protects your knuckles when you're going really hard. You should be okay without for today" Leah explained as she finished wrapping her hands.

Bella nodded, happy with whatever Leah had planned because this was the most respect she had received from supernaturals. Bella noticed Seth had weird flat, round, cushions attached to his hands.

"Seth is going to be your target" Leah grinned.

Seth started shadow boxing, dipping and dodging invisible punches.

Bella laughed at Seth lightly and Leah stepped in front of him.

"Okay I'm going to show you two punches a jab and a straight." Leah stated and Bella nodded excitedly.

Leah demonstrated and punched the pads on Seth's hands. Bella could see the power transfer from Leah's fist into, and down, Seth's arms. Leah instructed and explained as she swung and then showed Bella again in slow motion. Bella soaked in every word Leah said.

"Alright, let's see what you've got, Swan" Leah stepped away from Seth and motioned for Bella to take her spot.

Bella stood in front of Seth and adjusted her posture as Leah instructed. Then Leah started yelling out "jab" and "straight". Bella threw the punches as Leah called them out and they did this for a few minutes.

"You're looking pretty good, babe" Leah said excitedly.

"I feel good!" Bella sent a powerful jab at Seth for emphasises.

"Alright we're going to work on dodging now" Leah and Bella swapped places and Leah spoke about dodging as Seth came at her with the pads.

Once it was Bella's turn she could tell Seth had slowed down significantly but she didn't mind that much. They did have a large advantage of super human speed compared to her. Once Leah was satisfied with Bella's dodging capabilities she started calling out punches right after Bella completed a dodge. They kept the dodge punch routine going for a while and Bella could feel her shirt clinging to her sweaty body. She noticed Seth was speeding up a bit and smiled to herself thinking she must be getting the hang of it. Bella completed another dodge and just as she popped up to throw a punch Seth's attention was drawn to the woods. Bella squared up and punched Seth in the side of the head.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Bella gasped and took a step back.

Leah was laughing loudly and Seth turned his attention back to Bella, smiling.

"Nah, Dad always said I was bad at focusing. I always lose focus and let my guard slip" Seth reassured Bella with a shrug.

Just then Bella heard a male's laughter join Leah's, from where Seth had been looking. Embry walked out of the forest laughing loudly as he held his stomach. Bella flushed lightly, wondering how long he had been there.

"That's why I always won when we would spar." Leah calmed her laughter a bit.

"What are you doing here Embry? You made me lose my concentration" Seth grumbled.

"Well when I glimpsed a snot nosed wolf running with a gym bag around its neck I had to know what was going on." Embry explained "Once I saw Bella throwing down I thought I'd wait for a turn"

Bella flushed, Embry must have been there for a while and seen a decent amount of her boxing.

"What do you think Babe? Done for the day?" Leah asked Bella gently.

Bella nodded and Leah helped her out of the boxing gloves. She then handed Bella a hand towel which she used to wipe the sweat from her face.

"Whatdya say Seth? Wanna throw down?" Embry asked, throwing punches in the air.

In response Seth took the pads off his hands and took a boxer's stance, waiting on Embry to make a move.

"I wasn't taught how to fight" Embry took a swing at Seth who dodged "I didn't have a dad around to teach me" Embry was explaining for Bella's benefit.

"What I did have was a rebellious stage where I got involved with some interesting people" Embry landed a punch to Seth's side and Bella could see he wasn't fighting the same way Leah had just taught her. "I learnt how to fight on the streets, none of that form and name bullshit"

Seth landed a blow to Embry's gut.

"When you want to learn how to fight for real, come and talk to me" Embry turned and grinned at Bella which was a huge mistake. Seth nailed Embry right in the side of his head. Embry quickly turned back to Seth.

"Oh it's on now, pup" Embry grinned and pushed forward forcing Seth back.

Leah wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders and they watched the two fight for a while.

"Do you want to go on a date?" Leah asked out of no where.

"What?" Bella turned and looked up at Leah.

"We've been dating for over a month now and I've never taken you out on a date." Leah looked down to meet Bella's gaze.

"Like right now?" Bella made a face taking inventory of her sweat soaked clothing and her messy hair.

"Yeah, why not?" Leah retorted, thinking Bella was beautiful no matter what she looked like.

"Am I allowed to shower first? Or do you have some sort of sweat kink?" Bella teased.

"Is that a yes?" Leah asked with her signature smirk.

Bella nodded and started making her way back to the house.

"I knew you had a sweat kink!" Bella called over her shoulder just before disappearing into the house.


	20. First Date

Bella spent a long time in the bathroom, showering, blow drying her hair and inspecting her reflection. She wasn't sure if she should go home and do her makeup and find a nice outfit. She was excited to go on a date with Leah but dreaded having to get dressed up all fancy. She applied the only makeup she had packed and left in the bathroom, mascara and lip gloss. She then stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. As Bella entered the bedroom she noticed Leah standing in front of her closet, tapping her foot as she thought. Usually Leah watched Bella enter rooms due to her ability to hear Bella approach. Bella figured that Leah was so deep in thought she didn't hear her enter. Bella took this chance to quietly admire her girlfriend. She was dressed slightly different. She still wore a tight fitting white tank top but rather than her cut off shorts she wore tight fitting skinny jeans and she had socks on rather than her bare feet. Leah seemed to come to a decision and pulled a black leather jacket from her closet and put it on while turning around.

"Oh!" Leah started slightly as she realised Bella had managed to sneak up on her "how long have you been standing there?"

"Not long" Bella smiled moving over to her bag and looking through it. She hadn't packed anything nice for a date. But judging from Leah's outfit it couldn't be something too fancy which Bella was grateful for.

"You know if you want…" Leah trailed off, uncharacteristically unconfident.

Bella turned her head to look at Leah, slightly concerned at the change in character.

"You could leave stuff here if you know, if you want. So you don't have to riffle through a bag all the time. I uh cleared some space if you want." Leah was rambling "but you don't have to-"

"That'd actually be pretty great" Bella smiled at her reassuringly.

Leah looked relieved and showed Bella the room she had made in the closet. Bella smiled and stood with her bag, she moved to Leah's side and stood on her tip toes to kiss Leah's cheek.

Bella quickly dressed in skinny jeans and a thin hoodie that didn't have paint or drywall on it. She started putting the rest of the meager clothing she had packed for the weekend into the closet. She snuck a peak at Leah out of the corner of her eye and saw she was watching Bella with the dopiest love struck expression she had ever seen on her girlfriend.

"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked as she finished and turned to Leah.

"Just thinking about the future" Leah smiled sweetly but the dopey love face was more hidden.

"So where are we going?" Bella asked sliding her arms around Leah's waist.

"I thought we could go see a movie at Port Angeles" Leah grinned wrapping her arms around Bella's shoulders.

"Hey Leah!" Seth called from the kitchen.

Leah sighed "What?"

"Are you cool if Embry and I hang out here?" Seth asked with his puppy dog voice and Leah knew he would have his innocent puppy dog face to match.

Leah sighed even louder "If anything gets broken you pay for it, no one goes into my bedroom, if you eat all my food you're never allowed back into my house. And don't you two even think about inviting a bunch of the pack here."

"I swear we'll have the utmost respect for the house. Scouts honor!" Seth called back triumphantly.

"Yeah Leah, I promise too" Embry added.

Bella snickered and Leah looked down at her in her arms. Leah couldn't help smile at her a little.

"You're my witness that they agreed to those terms" Leah told Bella.

Bella nodded pretending to be serious then slipped out of her arms and took her hand. Bella lead her out of the bedroom and they passed the boys in the living room.

"Now Ms.Swan you have my sister back by 9pm!" Seth called after them.

Leah rolled her eyes as she pulled on her shoes.

"Remember who's house you're in and who can kick you out" Leah threatened.

Bella snickered as she pulled her own shoes on and turned to Leah when she was done. "I think it's kind of cute."

Bella hopped into the driver's side of her truck and was grateful Leah didn't insist on opening the door for her. Bella was beyond done with the whole overly chivalrous act. They drove to the movie theater in relative silence. About halfway Leah placed her hand on Bella's thigh and rubbed small circles with her thumb.

"Are you okay being open like this?" Leah asked, her voice full of concern.

"Hmm?" Bella didn't understand what Leah was asking.

"I mean are you sure you're okay openly being on a date with a woman?" Bella could feel Leah's eyes on her.

"It doesn't seem weird at all. I love you and I'm not too worried about what people think" Bella smiled out the front windshield but it quickly faded. "Are you okay?" Bella was suddenly very worried.

"Oh god of course!" Leah quickly answered. "I want to tell everyone you're my girlfriend, actually I think I have told everyone I know that you are."

The two laughed together lightly and Leah squeezed Bella's thigh. Bella parked the truck and the two hopped out. Leah took Bella's hand and they walked into the theater together. After purchasing tickets for a horror movie they stood in line for snacks. Bella shivered slightly and Leah looked at her concerned.

"Are you cold?"

"A bit, movie theaters are always pumping max A/C. I don't get it." Bella grumbled.

Leah chuckled as she removed her jacket and helped Bella into it. Bella didn't bother protesting because she knew Leah was only wearing it for show. Bella happily snuggled into the jacket, it was extra warm form Leah's body heat. As Bella ordered snacks Leah heard a man and woman whispering to each other but didn't pay attention to what they were saying until she picked up Bella's name. They were trying to figure out if the person beside Leah was in fact Bella. Leah turned her head and looked at the two and they immediately clammed up. They looked to be the same age as Bella and Leah figured they must be kids from school. Leah shrugged it off and helped carry the snacks to their seats. They settled in and watched the previews for a bit before Leah wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders. Bella snuggled into her side, happily enjoying the heat and comfort. Leah noticed the young couple again and listened as they settled in a few rows behind her and Bella. The movie started and Leah forgot the young couple again, wondering why Bella chose a horror film. Though Leah wasn't complaining, she preferred this to romance movies. They happily ate popcorn and Leah noticed Bella didn't start much at the movie. Leah didn't understand how anyone could treat Bella like a glass flower.

"Why is it that all new age horror movies seem so unrealistic?" Bella whispered into Leah's ear.

Leah sniggered trying to hold back her laughter.

"Maybe it's because you've seen real monsters" Leah whispered back.

"Or maybe it's because I know I'll always have someone looking out for me" Bella whispered but kept her face close to Leah's.

"Hmm sounds pretty stalkerish" Leah mused her face inches from Bella's.

Bella rolled her eyes and closed the space between them and kissed Leah gently. They both jumped apart when a woman in the theater screamed loudly. Leah could hear Bella's heart pounding. She tightened her arm around Bella trying to comfort her.

"God, that was the scariest part of this movie" Bella whispered and turned her attention back to the movie.

Leah could hear the young couple behind them whispering again. She couldn't make out what they were saying though. There were too many loud noises from the movie and people screaming.

As the movie let out Bella and Leah followed the flow of people into the lobby. Leah had kept her arm around Bella's shoulders and Bella wrapped her arm around Leah's waist.

"I'm sorry the movie wasn't that good" Leah apologized as they slowly walked towards the arcade just off the lobby.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault I'm not a screaming mess" Bella grinned up at Leah.

"Yeah I was really hoping I could comfort you through the whole movie" Leah joked.

"Oh I bet-" Bella was cut off.

"Bella?!" A woman called not far from them.

Bella stopped walking but didn't turn, debating pretending not to have heard.

"I told you it was Bella!" The woman scolded someone "Bella-Bella, over here"

Bella had hesitated too long. She sighed and turned around, Leah following her lead. It was the young couple who had been whispering about Bella.

"Hey Lauren, what are you doing here?" Bella greeted, less than enthused.

"Oh just on a date with Tyler. We just saw that scary movie." Lauren responded.

"Cool, well good seeing you" Bella made to turn away.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your...friend?" Lauren eyed Leah's arm around Bella's shoulders.

"Lauren this is Leah, Leah Lauren." Bella spoke in a no nonsense tone of voice.

Lauren didn't seem to pick up on Bella's standoffish behaviour. Or she just didn't care.

"Oh Leah, you're Bella's old friend…" Lauren emphasised friend and paused before continuing. "Mike told us about meeting you. You're a boxer right?"

"Actually Leah is my girlfriend" Bella stated as if she was telling Lauren about the weather.

Leah was surprised by how blunt Bella was being about this. She hadn't expected Bella to be so open about them dating.

"I didn't know you were gay" Lauren made a face.

"Yeah I'm full of surprises" Bella responded in monotone.

"I thought you were dating Edward. When did that end?" Lauren was pushing for more juicy gossip details.

Leah could practically see the annoyance rolling off of Bella.

"Hey, Lauren. It's been good to meet you but I promised Bella we'd play a game of air hockey" Leah made the excuse and tried to move on.

"So a boxer huh?" Lauren walked beside the two with Tyler trailing behind.

"Hey Lauren" Leah let her wolf surface slightly, knowing just the slight hint of predator would be felt "how about you leave us to our date?"

Lauren stopped walking instantly and Tyler almost walked into her back.

"Yeah-yeah of course. See you at school tomorrow, Bella" Lauren made an attempt to smile in a friendly manner.

Bella just nodded once and Leah lead her into the arcade.

"Man, I wish you went to school with me. I could really use that fuck off aura you give off" Bella mumbled.

Leah laughed and gestured to the air hockey table. "I apparently promised you a game of air hockey" Leah stated.

"Well then get ready to lose, Clearwater" Bella smirked almost rivaling Leah's own smirk. They played a couple games of air hockey and Bella won every time, it was always a close game but somehow she would win. Bella had a sneaking suspicion that Leah was letting her win. There was no way with her super speed that she was unable to stop Bella from scoring. They laughed and were looking at the arcade games when Bella pointed at the prize booth. Leah looked where Bella was pointing and saw a stuffed husky that was white and grey.

"It kind of looks like you" Bella giggled. "She then pointed at a black german sheppard "and that one is Sam"

Leah laughed too and pointed at a brown chihuahua "that one is Jacob"

Bella laughed loudly and caught the attention of the employee working there. They looked over at the two and gave their mandatory smile before moving on. Leah lead them to a circular machine. It had a single light traveling around it and players were meant to stop the light right in front of them. Leah put $2 in the machine and watched the light complete one circuit. Once the light came around again Leah stopped it perfectly. The machine started pumping out a long chain of tickets. Bella watched as she did this two more times. She was 100% sure Leah had let her win now. She wasn't upset at all, just kind of disappointed that she'd never be fast enough for Leah. Leah scooped up all the tickets and grinned like a small child. Bella's thoughts were quickly pulled back to the moment as she watched a giddy Leah quickly walk back to the prize counter. She pointed up at the grey husky and exchanged her tickets for it. Leah came back to Bella and presented her with the stuffed dog. Bella held it in her hand and smiled. It was about the size of an average teddy bear and was surprisingly soft.

"Thank you" Bella grinned at Leah.

"You're welcome" Leah was beaming.

Leah was giddy with excitement. She hadn't felt this good in many years. The last time she had been on a date had been ages ago and even then she didn't feel the same excitement she felt right now. Leah glanced at the large clock on the wall and frowned a bit.

"I forgot to ask earlier this weekend but do you have any homework?" Leah looked a little disappointed.

"Just a bit but I can finish it later tonight" Bella reassured her, not wanting their date to end.

"Bella, it's 8pm on Sunday" Leah looked appalled "that doesn't leave you a whole lot of time"

Bella shrugged.

"C'mon lets get you home" Leah shook her head in disbelief, she didn't want to be the reason Bella failed a class.

Bella grumbled her protest but followed Leah out to the truck. She had left her school bag in her truck all weekend, not wanting to deal with it. They drove to Charlie's house which didn't take long but Bella didn't hop out.

"Are you leaving?" Bella asked sadly.

Leah glanced at the clock on the dash."I don't have to right this second but I've got patrol in about 15 minutes" Leah frowned slightly.

They sat in the truck in complete silence for a few minutes, neither wanting to leave the other. As the minutes ticked by Leah sighed heavily and leaned over, kissing Bella's cheek. Bella turned her head and kissed Leah on the lips, wishing she could stay here with her forever. Leah chuckled lightly and broke away from their kiss.

"I'll call you after school tomorrow?" Leah asked.

"Can you come back here when you're done patrol?" Bella pouted.

"I wont be done until 4am" Leah informed her as her answer.

"I'll leave the window unlocked" Bella said as she hopped out of the truck, leaving no room for argument.

Leah laughed and hopped out of the truck too. "I guess it's a date then"

Bella grabbed her school bag and stuffed husky, looked over her shoulder and smiled at Leah before walking into the house. Leah jogged down the street and into the forest before phasing.

Leah felt like her patrol was taking extra long but 4am finally rolled around. She gained a second wind as soon as she was free to leave. She ran to Bella's house and phased back just inside the forest. Once she was dressed she jogged back down the street. She looked up and down the street to make sure no one was looking before she scaled the tree outside Bella's window. As promised Bella had left it unlocked and it was open a crack. Leah gingerly opened the window and climbed through. The room was dark but she could see almost perfectly due to her heightened senses. She saw on Bella's chair there was a folded piece of paper with her name written on it and on the back of the chair hung her jacket. Leah picked it up and read; "Leah, I didn't know if you had a chance to get a change of clothes when you left so I left these incase you wanted them." Leah found a pair of grey sweatpants and a black tank top. She smiled to herself and looked over at her sleeping girlfriend. She was snuggled tightly in her blankets, cuddling the stuffed dog Leah had won her. Leah quickly changed, leaving her dirty clothes and shoes on the ground beside the chair. She gingerly climbed into the bed with Bella and almost instantly Bella rolled over to face her. At first Leah thought she had woken her up but was reassured by Bella's deep breathing. Leah pulled Bella into her side and closed her eyes. Leah fell asleep almost instantly, she was exhausted from her long day.

Bella woke to her alarm clock and turned it off as quickly as she could. Leah sat up, groggily and looked at Bella disoriented by her surroundings.

"Shhh, it's okay go back to sleep" Bella reassured Leah as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Leah mumbled incomprehensibly and laid back down falling asleep almost instantly. Bella quickly got ready for school and took one last peek at Leah before leaving. Charlie had left for work early that morning and Bella was glad he hadn't checked on her before he did. How would she explain that to him? When Bella arrived she parked and went to her locker like normal, ignoring everyone as she went about her day. School ticked by slowly and when the bell rang signaling for lunch she wondered if Leah would be awake yet.

"Hey Swan!" A male voice called out.

Bella turned to face the direction of the voice. A guy she vaguely recognized was waving at her as he approached with two of his friends. She eyed them skeptically. She had seen them in her other classes and knew the one guy only by his last name, Smith.

"Yeah?" She asked, confused.

The guy who had spoken slung his arm around her shoulders, like they were old buddies.

"I heard you were on a date yesterday" He grinned down at her.

"Yeah…" Bella didn't understand why this mattered and didn't like his arm around her.

"I heard you were making out with a girl" one of the other guys piped in, loudly.

Other conversations in the hallway seemed to die out and attention was starting to shift to the four of them.

"That's none of your business" Bella answered coolly as she shrugged out of the first guy's arm.

"Awww come on Swan, you're like one of the boys now" the second guy whined.

Bella started walking away, ignoring their stupidity.

"Yeah, tell us all the juicy details" Smith pushed as he walked up beside her and slapped her ass.

Bella stopped walking and turned to face Smith.

"Don't you ever touch me again" she said calmly before walking to the women's bathroom, where they couldn't follow her. She was angry and when she got this angry it made her cry, which she hated because it made her anger look like weakness to others. She knew Leah could calm her down though, Leah could make her feel better about anything. Bella pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Leah.

"Bella?" Leah's voice was a bit groggy.

"Oh, did I wake you? I'm sorry, go back to sleep." Bella tried to keep her voice sounding as normal as possible.

"What's wrong?" Leah suddenly sounded very alert and she could hear shuffling on the other end of the line.

"It's nothing, just boys being stupid" Bella could feel an anger tear roll down her cheek.

"What's wrong?" Leah asked again, refusing to let it go. Bella could hear wind on the other end of the line.

"Where are you?" Bella asked, confused by the loud wind. She didn't think it was that windy outside.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Leah's breathing sounded a little laboured now.

Bella caved and recapped the whole thing to her and finished with "don't worry though, if it happens again I'm going to use my boxing lessons to kick his ass"

Bella could now hear chatter in the background on Leah's end.

"Where are you?" Bella asked, already fairly certain she knew the answer.

"Near the cafeteria. What's this guy look like?" Leah asked calmly like she was asking for the time.

"Leah, no" Bella left the bathroom and jogged towards the cafeteria. "You can't get too angry here" She could see Leah not too far ahead of her now.

"Don't worry, I just want to talk to him" Leah hung up, knowing Bella wasn't far behind her. Leah entered the cafeteria.

Bella jogged up to Leah and stopped beside her.

"Which one is he?" Leah asked again, scanning the cafeteria.

Bella was still pissed at Smith and if Leah was going to use her predator intimidation on him Bella kind of wanted that. Bella pointed to a boy sitting at a table not too far from them. The other two were with him Bella noted as she followed beside Leah.

"Smith?" Leah asked once she reached the table.

He looked up first and the rest of the table stopped talking to see what was going on.

"Yeah who's asking?" He smirked at her then looked at Bella waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Do me a favor, Smith, stand up real quick" Leah said fairly calmly.

"Why?" He asked but obliged as he stood, now standing a few inches taller than Leah.

"Cuz it wouldn't be fair to punch you if you were sitting down" Leah smirked and before Smith could react she punched him right in the face.

Smith crumbled to the ground and his friends at the table all stood quickly, ready to fight. The cafeteria was now silent as everyone watched what was happening. Bella grabbed Leah's arm, slightly horrified by what she had just done but also satisfied. Smith's two friends helped him up and Leah could see his eye was already swelling, he was getting ready to swing at her. Gingerly, Leah moved Bella out of the way and grabbed Smith's arm as it swung at her. She used it to redirect him so he stumbled towards the table, off balance. She then grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him off the ground before slamming his back into the table top. The wind instantly left him and Leah leaned over top of him.

"If you or any of your little friends put a hand on my girlfriend again I'll break every single fucking bone in it." Leah threatened and her wolf begged to be released. She was pacing just below the surface, she wanted this guy's blood. "Do you understand me?" Leah growled.

Smith nodded and Leah could smell urine. She released his shirt and took a step back to see Smith had wet himself. Leah turned to his friends and they both jumped back a step.

"Ms.Swan!" An authoritative voice boomed through the quiet cafeteria.

Bella and Leah looked in the direction of the voice and saw the school's principal.

"The sheriff has been called and I must ask that you and your friend come peacefully to my office." The principal looked past them at the boys also involved in the situation.

Leah nodded once and started walking towards the principal, Bella following close behind. As they walked students jumped out of their way giving Leah a wide berth.

"Jordan, Matthew why don't you help Liam to the nurse's office?" The principal suggested.

Leah could hear them shuffling behind her but they were walking in the same direction. All five of them arrived at the main office and the principal sat Leah down in a corner as far away from the other students as he could. Liam's two friends escorted him into the nurse's office but sat in the main office once he was there. They all sat quietly as they waited for the sheriff's department to arrive. Bella wasn't exactly excited about having this happen. She knew she'd have to explain it to her father one way or another. When Charlie walked in followed by one of his deputies Bella groaned.

"Bella, what happened?" Charlie was full of concern then he spotted Leah "Leah what are you doing here?"

The deputy moved to speak to the principal and started scribbling into his notebook.

"Hey Dad, it's not as bad as they're going to tell you" Bella tried to reassure her father.

This set off warning bells in his head and once he saw that Bella was okay he turned into Chief Swan turning off his parental worry.

The deputy walked over to Charlie and glanced down at his notebook.

"Ms.Clearwater assaulted Mr.Smith unprovoked in the cafeteria" he read off before looking at Charlie "the kid has a nice shiner"

"Ms.Clearwater please stand and place your hands behind your back. You are being detained for assaulting a student on private property" Charlie instructed.

Leah did as she was told and felt the handcuffs tighten around her wrists.

"It wasn't unprovoked!" Bella protested as she stood. "Liam slapped my ass, Leah was just trying to protect me"

Charlie looked at Bella for a second then turned to his deputy.

"Detain Mr.Smith for sexual assault on a minor" Charlie then lead Leah out to his cruiser and helped her into the backseat. Bella followed them and Charlie turned to her.

"You can't come in the car with us, this is already complicated with you being my daughter. I can't have people thinking I'm playing favorites" Charlie sighed.

Bella nodded once to her father then looked at Leah in the back of the cruiser. Leah smiled at her like they were just playing cops and robbers. Bella sighed heavily and walked over to her truck.

When Bella arrived at the station both Liam and Leah were sitting, handcuffed, in chairs opposite some desks. Liam was now wearing a pair of sweatpants that looked to be three sizes too large rather than his soiled jeans. Liam was speaking to Charlie and Leah was sitting patiently, probably listening to what was being said. Leah smiled at Bella, like nothing was wrong. Once Charlie was done speaking with Liam he came over to Bella.

"Follow me" Charlie said, leading her to a chair opposite yet another desk.

"I need your statement about what happened"

Bella nodded and began telling Charlie about how Liam had slapped her ass. Liam muttered something she couldn't hear but Leah stood up and there was a snapping noise. She then pointed at Liam and yelled "you're a fucking piece of shit". On each wrist was a piece of the handcuffs no longer attached to each other. Everyone in the station was staring at Leah in disbelief except Bella, she was looking at her in horror for what she had just exposed.

"Oh damn, Chief I think your handcuffs are faulty" Leah said sheepishly as she sat back down.

Charlie stared for a second before shaking his head and moving to Leah to replace the cuffs.

After everything was documented and Leah was recuffed Charlie gathered the three of them.

"Alright let's see here. Bella you have the choice to press sexual assault charges against Mr.Smith who now at 18 would be tried as an adult. Mr.Smith you have the choice to press assault charges against Ms.Clearwater who would also be tried as an adult." Charlie explained.

"I don't think I would need to press charges if Leah wasn't in trouble…" Bella trailed off.

Liam understood loud and clear. If he didn't want a sexual assault charge on his record he needed to drop his against Leah. "Yeah Chief, I think this was all just a big misunderstanding. I don't want to press charges" Liam said sheepishly.

"Alright that's settled then. Robert can you take Mr.Smith back to the school?" Charlie asked the deputy that had been assisting him through this whole thing.

The deputy nodded and unlocked Liam's handcuffs, leading him outside.

Charlie unlocked Leah's handcuffs but didn't move to allow her to leave.

"Don't get me wrong Leah, I really do appreciate you looking out for Bella but you can't be assaulting kids in school. You got lucky he was 18, if he had been a minor I don't think you would have gotten off easily." Charlie sat down heavily in his chair.

"I know Chief Swan, it won't happen again as long as those idiots keep their hands off Bella" Leah grinned at him.

"Again, I appreciate you looking out for my daughter" he studied Leah then Bella "when did you two get so close?" He noticed how the two gravitated towards each other.

"I've been trying to figure out how to talk to you" Bella started, hating having to do this on the spot. "Er, Leah and I are dating" Bella blushed lightly.

Charlie's eyes bulged and he sat forward on his chair before he managed to compose himself. He looked at Leah who was still sitting in the chair opposite Charlie's desk. Leah nodded and then shrugged at Charlie.

"How about you come over for dinner tonight, Leah?" Charlie finally managed to speak.

"Sounds great Mr.Swan" Leah grinned, her smile echoing the bright smile of her brother.

Leah and Bella left the station holding hands. They stopped beside Bella's truck and Bella looked up at Leah.

"I love you, but please never get arrested ever again" Bella furrowed her brows.

"I wasn't arrested, just detained" Leah smiled sheepishly.

Bella narrowed her eyes at Leah. Leah held her hands up defensively.

"Yeah okay, I'll try not to get into any more trouble"

"Good" Bella stood on the tips of her toes and kissed Leah quickly. "I've gotta get back to school. I guess I'll see you for dinner"

"Yeah, I'll see you later" Leah smiled before jogging towards the woods.


	21. The Wolf's Out of the Bag

Charlie Watched his daughter leave with Leah. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Bella was dating a woman. He didn't have an issue with her being gay, he just didn't expect it. He was happy that she was no longer dating the Cullen boy, he had a weird feeling about him. And he knew Leah quite well from his friendship with Harry. Leah even went fishing with the two of them when she was younger. Harry had tried to bring Seth along too but the boy was too hyperactive and found the activity boring. Charlie smiled at the memory of an 11 year old Leah very sternly telling 5 year old Seth that he'd scare all the fish away if he kept talking so loud. She had looked at him like she was incredibly mature and flashed Charlie an apologetic look on behalf of her brother. The two had kept arguing and Seth had somehow fallen out of the boat. Harry had to hoist him back in by the life jacket and Seth began to cry. He had sobbed that Leah pushed him in, Leah looked fairly guilty but ignored the commotion. She kept her hands on her fishing pole and stared out at the ocean. Once Harry had settled Seth down he confronted his daughter and she caved, telling the truth that she had pushed him in, because he was scaring all the fish. She insisted she just wanted him to look in the water to see if he could find any fish. Charlie had to suppress his laughter and could see Harry was doing the same as he scolded his daughter. They had to cut that fishing trip short as the boy was soaking wet and miserable. Leah continued fishing with them for another year or two after that but once she had become a teenager she had deemed it "uncool" to be fishing with her dad and his friend. Charlie had been a bit sad that she had stopped fishing with them as Leah had become like a second daughter to him. He didn't get to see Bella as often as he had wanted and with Leah being around so often, and close to Bella's age, he grew attached to her. So to see that his own daughter was now dating her, he was conflicted. He knew Leah was a nice girl who would be a good influence on his daughter. But as a father he feared anyone dating his daughter. The fact that Leah had fought a boy because he had laid hands on his daughter also spoke well to the fact that Leah would take good care of Bella. Charlie was pulled out of his thoughts as he saw Bella quickly kiss Leah. He felt awkward at watching this exchange, like he shouldn't have witnessed it. He was about to turn away to return to his work when he noticed Leah turn away from Bella's truck. He stopped and continued to watch. Bella got into her truck as Leah jogged away from it. This seemed odd because Leah didn't have a car and Charlie had driven her to the station. He figured Bella would give her a lift to the school and Leah would get home the same way she had gotten to the school. He continued to watch Leah as she jogged right into the forest. He was even more confused by this and a little worried. The forest around the station was quite thick and there had been a few sightings of large predators in the woods surrounding Forks. Charlie stood watching the edge of the forest, waiting for Leah to reemerge.

"Hey Chief" one of the deputies pulled Charlie's attention back to the station.

"Yes?" Charlie asked, looking at the deputy while still keeping an eye on the forest, out the corner of his eye.

"Where should I file these assault reports?" The deputy held up the notes Robert had taken.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it" Charlie took the paper from the deputy and moved back to his desk, forgetting Leah's strange behaviour.

When Bella pulled into the parking lot at school there was only one period left. She frowned as her stomach growled, she hadn't gotten to eat lunch because of the whole situation. As she hopped out of the truck she felt a cool breeze pass her and her hair lifted momentarily. She looked up and was met with golden eyes. Bella started and jumped back, hitting her truck lightly. Rosalie Cullen was standing in front of her with a small smile.

"Look, your mutt stunk up the school. She needs to stay on her side of the border" Rosalie stated, not unkindly.

"She was only here because of what Liam did" Bella protested with a scowl.

Rosalie paused for a second and began walking towards the school. She turned back to look at Bella with a questioning look of 'are you coming?'. Bella looked at Rosalie dumbfounded for a second and then caught up to her, walking beside her. Bella didn't understand why Rosalie was talking to her. She never really spoke to Bella before and had been outraged when she found out about Leah imprinting on her. Bella figured she may as well air this here, her family wouldn't be far and with it being such a public place she knew the chances of Rosalie hurting her were very low.

"Why are you talking to me?" Bella asked abruptly.

Rosalie chuckled before answering. "I guess that question is understandable"

She hadn't answered Bella, just acknowledged the question.

"Sooo…" Bella pushed, she wanted answers. After what had happened earlier today she was in a no bullshit kind of mood.

"You have to know that I'm very protective of my family" Rosalie began "So once the mutt claimed you, there was no longer a reason for my family to be involved with you."

Bella winced at the bluntness of Rosalie's words.

"But they insisted on putting on a little show for the Volturi. You being human and knowing about us puts us in a lot of danger. I was of the opinion that we just hand you over to them and continue our lives but Carlisle would never have that."

"So you being protective of your family is why you've always hated me?" Bella asked, her voice hoarse and quiet due to her being unprepared for how blunt Rosalie was being. Rosalie heard her with no problem though, due to her super hearing.

"I've never really hated you Bella. I hated that you would so willingly give up your humanity when you had a choice not to" Rosalie stopped and struck Bella with a long stare.

"I didn't have a choice, Carlise turned me because an ignorant man decided he had a right to me and used me for his entertainment." Rosalie began walking again.

Bella didn't have a response for Rosalie, she was flabbergasted.

"If your mutt hadn't taken care of that Liam boy I might of had some words with him"

"You would have talked to Liam because he harassed me?" Bella was even more surprised.

"Not for your honor but for his ignorance. There's one thing I can't stand and it's men thinking they can take whatever they want." Rosalie's eyes darkened and her voice got dangerous.

"Well, th-thank you?" Bella stated, a bit unsure if it was the proper response.

"Your mutt saving your humanity and teaching that stupid boy a lesson…" Rosalie trailed off in thought for a second.

Bella remained silent as they continued into the school.

"Leah, right?" Rosalie pondered.

"Yes" Bella was more than surprised that Rosalie was calling her by her name and not a slur.

"I guess I like your mutt-" Rosalie stopped herself "uhm, Leah."

Bella stopped walking, her mouth hanging ajar.

"You really shouldn't make that face, it's quite unattractive" Rosalie laughed as she continued walking and disappeared around a corner.

Bella stood for a long time as her brain attempted to process what had happened. This was the longest conversation she had ever had with Rosalie. Of all the Cullens, Rosalie hated the pack the most, or was at least the most vocal about it. And here she was telling Bella that she liked Leah. Using Leah's name instead of mutt. Bella shook her head in disbelief before pulling her attention back to her surroundings. She was a few doors down from her last class and quickly walked over to it. She opened the door as quietly as she could but the teacher stopped talking and every head in the room turned to look at her. Bella could feel her cheeks get incredibly warm as she ducked her head and found her seat quickly. The teacher continued droning on but Bella could still feel eyes on her. She sighed to herself, by now the whole school was probably aware of what happened in the cafeteria and she could already tell she wasn't going to hear the end of it any time soon.

Leah phased in her mother's backyard and rushed into the house, pulling her borrowed sweatpants on.

"Mom?!" Leah called out as she pulled Bella's tank top on.

"Leah?" Sue asked, surprised as she walked into the kitchen to greet her daughter.

"Oh, it's good to see you" Sue pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

"Yeah you too mom" Leah reciprocated the hug.

"So what do you need?" Sue asked, pulling away from the hug and eyeing her daughter.

"Why do you think I need something? Can't I come visit my mom?" Leah asked, defensively.

Sue raised an eyebrow at her, not believing Leah's excuses.

"Okay" Leah sighed loudly. "Charlie invited me to dinner at their house after he found out Bella and I are dating"

"Ahh, you're meeting the parent" Sue chuckled lightly.

"But that's the problem, I already know Charlie" Leah whined.

"Don't whine Dear, it's childish." Sue reprimanded her.

"I just don't know what to do!" Leah ignored her mother's previous comment. "What do I even wear?"

Sue laughed lightly. "I don't think you have to wear anything special. Like you said Charlie already knows you. I'm sure he just wants to get to know you as an adult a bit better"

Leah chewed her bottom lip, nervously, thinking over what her mother had said.

"Do I bring something? Is it rude to show up empty handed?" Leah questioned further.

"It might be nice to bring something, yes" Sue nodded her agreement.

"What do I bring? I can't exactly bring him a fish" Leah started pacing "I could bring him beer!" Leah stopped and smiled triumphantly.

"I don't think beer is a wise choice." Sue stood, watching her daughter.

"Why not?"

"You're underage and he's a police officer." Sue stated as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Right…" Leah sighed and slumped into a kitchen chair.

"You could bring him your father's famous fish fry" Sue suggested.

"We don't have any fresh fish…" Leah complained.

"Well you could go and catch some, you've got a few hours until dinner time" Sue smiled lightly at her daughter. "Then when you get back I'll help you cook it"

Leah thought this over. She hadn't been fishing since her father had passed and hated the idea of going without him. Even when she had gotten older and thought it was lame to hang out with her dad they still went fishing occasionally. She would never admit it at the time but she liked their peaceful time together out on the water. When she was out on the water with him she was his little girl. Again she would never admit it to anyone but she loved it. Leah shook her head in protest and swallowed down the sadness that had formed a lump in her throat.

"I'll go buy some fish off someone" Leah stated as she stood, her face a blank slate as she hid her emotions.

"Okay, I'll be here when you get back" Sue explained sadly as she saw the emotional struggle her daughter had just gone through. She understood why Leah felt the way she did and didn't want to push the issue more.

Sue dropped Leah off at the Swan residence and then drove back home. Leah was going to run to the house but Sue said the fish fry might not make it and she didn't mind giving her a ride. Leah then stood on the Swan's front porch and took a deep breath. She could smell the fish fry through the paper bag she was holding. She also got a whiff of Bella's scent which comforted her and she relaxed a bit. She knocked on the door and listened, she heard Bella coming and was grateful. Bella opened the door and pulled Leah into a tight hug.

"Hey," Bella said lightly.

"Hey" Leah responded as she pressed her lips to the top of Bella's head and inhaled deeply.

"Come in," Bella said as she broke the hug.

Leah followed Bella inside and removed her jacket, hanging it on the coat rack. Leah knew Charlie hung his holster there when he was off duty but didn't see the gun. Bella noticed Leah's gaze and gave her an apologetic smile. Bella led Leah into the kitchen and she saw Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning his hand gun.

"Ah Leah" Charlie said as he finished up what he was cleaning and wiped his hands on a rag. "Good to see you again" He stood, his face more serious and stern than Leah was used to.

"Good to see you too " Leah being more formal than usual, assessing that this situation required manners.

Charlie extended his hand and Leah shook it firmly. She then noticed Charlie's eyeing the paper bag Leah was still holding.  
"Oh, mum and I made Dad's fish fry" Leah smiled a sad smile as she held the bag up for Charlie to take.

Charlie's face softened as he took the bag "Thank you".

"No problem. Mum thought it'd been awhile since she had sent some over…" Leah trailed off leaving her father's death implied in the situation but not wanting to say it out right.

"Have a seat, Leah" Charlie gestured to the seat across from where he had been sitting. Leah obliged and sat down, placing her clasped hands on the table. Charlie sat back down and Bella sighed, taking the fish fry and putting it in the fridge. Bella then went back to putting the finishing touches on dinner.

"So, Leah" Charlie started as he began cleaning his gun again. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

Bella groaned, embarrassed. Leah smiled at Bella for a second before turning her attention back to Charlie.

"I love her, Sir" Leah stated firmly. "And I plan to do whatever it takes to make her happy" Leah was speaking from her heart and the emotion was evident in her words.

Charlie grunted his approval but didn't want to surrender his tough father act just yet. It was hard for him to continue this act because of how much he already knew Leah's character.

"I can't have my daughter dating someone who gets in trouble with the law" Charlie stated firmly.

"Yes, Sir" Leah nodded, slightly ashamed. "I understand that Sir but if I had a second chance I would have done the same thing." Leah looked Charlie in the eye, her wolf prowling just below the surface, agitated by the thought of someone touching Bella again. "If protecting Bella means getting in trouble with the law I have to apologize in advance because I will always be there to protect her."

Bella had paused what she was doing in the kitchen. She could feel the powerful presence of the wolf in Leah's words. Charlie had paused his gun cleaning and continued his eye contact with Leah. He too had felt the power behind the words and frowned at Leah for what seemed like ages.

"Good." He finally said. He slid the gun closed, stood and walked to the halway.

Leah could hear rustling as Charlie put his gun away. Then water started running in the bathroom as he washed his hands. When Charlie returned he had his usual friendly demeanor.

"I'm glad you're dating my daughter, Leah" Charlie gave her a friendly smile.

"Thank you, Sir" Leah smiled, relieved.

"Oh stop with that Leah, just call me Charlie" He sat back down at the table and gave her the fatherly smile she was used to receiving from him. Over the years Charlie had become a sort of extension of her father. And sometimes when Leah got in trouble and feared her parent's reaction she would seek Charlie out. He would always take her to the diner for dinner and give her sound advice before driving her home to face the music.

"Sure" Leah choked out. Before today the last time she had seen Charlie was at her father's funeral. She wasn't prepared for the kind fatherly look he had given her and she could feel the sadness threatening to spill out.

"Do you need any help?" Leah turned to Bella, looking for a distraction.

"No, I'm done. I was just waiting for you two to finish your…conversation" Bella rolled her eyes as she brought over two heaping plates of spaghetti and meatballs. Bella went back and returned with a third plate and sat between Charlie and Leah.

They ate and talked idly about work and school. Leah told Charlie she had bought a house recently and he lit up, offering to help her renovate any time she needed. Charlie asked if Leah had caught the fish for the fish fry and she explained she hadn't been fishing since Harry had passed.

"You should come fishing with me this weekend" Charlie smiled lightly, knowing he could never replace Harry.

"I don't know…" Leah struggled with the offer. She had never gone fishing without her father.

"We could even bring your brother so he can find the fish for you" Charlie grinned at her, bringing up the old memory.

Leah laughed loudly, remembering when she pushed Seth in and her lame excuse for it. Charlie joined in the laughter. Bella looked between the two of them lost.

"Alright Charlie I'll ask Seth if he wants to come too" Leah said, still laughing a bit, making up her mind that it would be fun to go fishing with Charlie.

"Good, it'd be nice to have someone to fish with" Charlie looked a bit sad and Leah recognized that Charlie had lost Harry too.

"I can't promise that Seth will come though" Leah warned "I don't think he went fishing again after he...fell off the boat"

They continued their dinner with light small talk and once they were done eating Leah helped clear the plates. When Bella and Leah were done cleaning up the kitchen Leah turned to Bella, her expression full of sorrow.

"Want to go for a walk?" Leah asked Bella, trying to tell her she needed to let her wolf stretch and cope with the emotion.

"That sounds great" Bella replied understanding the sorrow filled look Leah was giving her.

Bella felt for Leah. She knew Charlie and Harry were close and she had even seen pictures around the house of Charlie, Harry and a young Leah all decked out in fishing gear. One picture showed a young Leah on a boat, excitedly showing Charlie a fish. Charlie's expression in the photo was full of pride. Bella liked looking at these photos a lot after her and Leah had started dating. Before that though Bella felt a bit guilty and jealous. She was jealous that Charlie expressed such pride about Leah. And Charlie told stories about the young girl frequently when speaking about fishing, which was often. She felt guilt because she didn't like fishing herself. She knew Charlie enjoyed it but when Bella visited he would turn down fishing trips with Harry to try and do something Bella enjoyed.

The two grabbed their jackets and put them on. Charlie warned them not to go too deep into the woods and asked Bella if she still had the bear spray he had given her. He had given it to her originally when she started dating Edward, just in case. But now with her going into the woods with all the large predator sightings he worried.

"Don't worry Charlie, my people are close to the forest" Leah reassured him.

Charlie had doubts that Leah's heritage would protect them from large animals that could rip them apart.

"Just humor me and stay close to the tree line" Charlie pleaded.

"Okay" Bella sighed as she led Leah out the back door.

Once inside the tree line Leah stripped down, Bella kept her distance as Leah phased. Once the wolf was relatively still Bella approached and placed a hand on it's side. Leah relaxed instantly and they both walked slowly into the forest. They didn't go too far, they could still just see the house through the trees and bushes. Leah sat and tilted her head upwards letting out a sorrow filled howl. She hadn't properly grieved the loss of her father. She didn't want to confront it because it was her fault he was dead. Way off in the distance Leah heard another sorrow filled howl belonging to her brother. He was running patrol and felt Leah's sorrow for the death of their father.

'It's not your fault, Lee' Seth told her gently using her childhood nickname.

Leah whimpered and Bella wrapped her arms around Leah's neck.

'He had a bad heart' Seth continued but Leah could feel his sorrow.

Leah let out another long sad howl, only slightly comforted by her imprint and brother.

'Lee, it's okay to be sad' Seth continued 'You don't have to act tough all the time'

Leah lowered her head, trying to make more contact with Bella, taking comfort in her touch.

Leah let out a soft howl followed by a whimper and Seth howled with her.

"Bella…" Charlie's voice was full of concern.

Both Bella and Leah started, Leah raised her head quickly to look directly at Charlie. He was holding his gun, pointed right at her. Bella was hugging her and if Charlie fired there was a chance he'd hit Bella. Leah growled in fear of her imprint getting hurt, her wolf more in control than her. Charlie was very slowly walking towards them, keeping his gun aimed steadily at Leah's head.

"Bella come towards me very slowly," Charlie instructed, never taking his eyes off Leah.

"No, Dad!" Bella released Leah from the hug she was giving her and spread her arms wide in front of Leah's wolf form. "You can't shoot her"

"Bella!" Charlie hissed, frightened at the loud and sudden movements she was making around the beast.

"You need to come towards me now" He repeated, sternly.

"No, Dad she won't hurt me. Put your gun away" Bella pleaded, tears now rolling down her cheeks.

"Bella, that's a wild…" Charlie struggled to categorize what the wolf was. It looked like a wolf but it was much larger than any wolf he had ever seen. "Wolf. You don't know what it will do" Charlie was still walking slowly towards them.

"No Dad, please just listen" Bella pleaded with her father "she's safe I promise"

Leah's wolf hated the gun being pointed in Bella's direction and wanted to attack the threat. Leah had to fight with every fiber in her body to prevent her wolf from doing so. She had two options, try and run and risk him firing and potentially hitting Bella or let the secret out and phase back. Technically Charlie was now connected to the pack due to Bella being her imprint but Leah knew that was a thin technicality. Charlie did know all the pack stories though and if anyone outside the pack were to know the secret Charlie wasn't a bad candidate.

"Where's Leah?!" Charlie now just noticing her absence. "Did the wolf's pack drag her off?"

Leah made up her mind. She calmed her wolf, promising her imprint would be safe and then she phased back to human. Leah stood behind Bella, seeing as she was now naked and her clothes were pretty far from them.

"Leah no!" Bella had felt the shift as the fur that was rubbing up against her arm disappeared.

Charlie stood, gun still raised, now pointing at thin air where Leah's wolf head used to be. His mouth was hanging open and he stared at the two women. Leah still strategically behind Bella to hide her naked body.

"How?..." Charlie whispered as he lowered his gun and re-engaged the safety.

Leah was glad that he had done so and that his instinct turned the safety back on.

"I told you my people were close to the forest" Leah tried to joke to break the tension.

Charlie shook his head in disbelief but seemed to break free of his trance.

"How about we go inside?" Leah offered.

Charlie nodded but didn't move still standing in front of the two women, disbelief written all over his face.

"Hey Charlie," Leah laughed awkwardly "I'm naked so if you want to go on in ahead of me that'd be ideal."

Charlie composed himself a bit and nodded awkwardly as he turned back towards the house.

"What are you doing?!" Bella scolded Leah as they walked back to Leah's clothes.

"I didn't have many choices, he had a gun pointed towards you. I couldn't risk him missing me and hitting you." Leah explained as she pulled her pants and shirt on. She didn't bother with the rest of the clothing, it was all for the benefit of pretending to be normal and that was long gone.

"He wouldn't have shot with me that close" Bella insisted.

"He wasn't listening to you. Besides what were you going to tell him?" Leah scooped up the rest of her clothing "you found a massive wolf in the wild and tamed it?" The two walked towards the house.

"I don't know" Bella seemed agitated "but you're going to be in so much trouble now"

Leah shrugged and held the back door open for Bella. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard the two girls enter.

"The tribal legends …" He made solid eye contact with Leah.

Leah was about to answer when her phone started ringing.

"All true, hold on" she answered before fishing through her jacket for her phone. She saw her mother's picture on the phone and sighed deeply. She was hoping she'd have a little more time before she got chewed out. Seth must have phased and told someone about what had happened. She loves the kid but he needed to leave people to their own business sometimes.

"Hey Mum" Leah answered the phone sheepishly.

"Bring them back to the house." Sue spoke with the authority of a tribal elder and Leah knew there was no room for argument.

Before Leah could acknowledge the demand her mother had hung up the phone.

"Alrighty then" Leah ran her hand down her face with a sigh. "We're going to have to continue this conversation at my place"

Charlie didn't protest much, but insisted they take the cruiser. He also insisted that Leah sit in the back and Bella in the front. So for the second time that day Leah rode in the back of the chief's cruiser. Charlie kept glancing at Leah in the rear view mirror, maybe checking to make sure she was still human. When they pulled up outside the Clearwater residence Leah noticed the cars of the other tribal elders. Leah groaned and wished she didn't have to go inside. Charlie led them inside, anxious for answers. When they entered they were met with Quil Sr, Billy, Seth, Jacob, Sam, and Sue. Leah sauntered into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

"Alright who wants to yell at me first?" Leah raised an eyebrow as she surveyed the many eyes on her.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Sam yelled "you exposed tribal secrets and you want to act all cocky?!"

"I had a feeling you'd want to go first, Sam" Leah shrugged "hey, no offence but why is Jacob here?"

"I'm my Dad's ride" Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Fair enough" Leah shrugged again and then looked over at Bella, patting the couch cushion beside her.

"So everyone here knows?..." Charlie looked at Billy and Sue with a hurt expression.

Sue gave him a sympathetic look and Billy looked a little apologetic.

"Is what Seth said true?" Quil Sr questioned Leah.

"I don't know, what'd Seth tell you?" Leah wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders as she took a seat beside Leah.

"That Charlie had a gun pointed at you"

"Then yes it's true" Leah nodded once.

"Why didn't you run?" Sam blurted.

"I didn't want to make any sudden movements when he had a gun pointed so close to my imprint, Samuel" Leah returned with venom in her words.

"What's an imprint?" Charlie pipes in, looking lost.

"Why don't you just tell him everything then, Leah?" Sam responded with more anger.

"He already knows about us, it's not like we should really keep anything else from him!" Leah growled the last few words. Sam started growling back his fists trembling slightly.

"That's enough!" Sue boomed over the two.

They both quieted down, recognizing an elder speaking and that they must show respect.

"Why don't you have a seat Charlie?" Sue suggested, gesturing to an open arm chair.

The elders began speaking to Charlie and answering his questions. It seemed that they were going to let him in on everything. Leah had a feeling this was because he was very close to two of the three of them. Leah half paid attention to the words that were said, waiting until they got to the part about reprimanding her. Bella yawned and Leah pulled her into her lap so Bella was sat on her sideways. Leah wrapped both arms around Bella, tightly, and Bella yawned again as she rested the side of her face just above Leah's chest. Bella was exhausted from the adrenaline rush she had experienced from Charlie almost shooting Leah. Bella's eyes closed slowly as she drifted off to the white noise of the chatter around her.

"Poor thing is probably exhausted from everything that happened today" Sue sighed as she looked at Bella in Leah's arms.

Leah nodded her agreement and then looked over at Charlie to see how he was doing. He was having an incredibly in depth conversation with Billy and seemed to be taking things quite well. Jacob came over to the couch and lifted Bella's feet very carefully. He then sat down beside Leah and replaced Bella's feet in his lap.

"I think you made the right call" Jacob stated "Seth showed Sam and I everything, play by play and I would have done the same thing" Jacob looked at Bella's sleeping face with sympathy.

"Thanks, at least I've got two people in the pack who aren't going to crucify me" Leah smiled at Jacob kindly before suppressing a yawn. Leah's own adrenaline rush come down had caught up with her. Jacob draped his arm around the back of the couch, behind Leah's head, and gave her a brotherly smile.

"I'll shake you when they decide to yell at you"

Leah was grateful for his kindness as they had sent Seth to bed a little while ago seeing as it was a school night. She had no doubt he was still awake and listening but it was nice to have someone in her corner right beside her. Leah closed her eyes but remained sitting upright, not sure where her new found friendship with Jacob lay. She didn't have to ponder long as Jacob moved his arm around her shoulders. Leah rested her head on his shoulder and was grateful yet again that he was here. She would never admit it to him but he was an alright guy. Leah hadn't fallen asleep, she was just resting before all hell broke loose.

"Quil, it looks like everything is going to be okay" Sue tried to reason with him.

"We can't let this go unchecked. If we do every wolf is going to think it's okay to blab all over town" Quil retorted.

"These were very unique circumstances" Billy interjected. "We'll make a stance that it is not okay to share tribe secrets and that this was a 1 in a million situation"

"Everyone will claim their situation was unique" Quil was not going to let this slide.

"Yes, but not many have imprints. A wolf has no loyalty to his-" Sam quickly corrected "to it's tribe when their imprint is endangered"

Sam had had time to put himself in Leah's situation as everyone had been talking. He thought he would have probably attacked Charlie if it had been himself and Emily in danger. Leah was surprised at Sam's sudden change of heart and that he was defending her actions. There was silence for a minute and Leah was curious as to what was going on. She lifted her head and opened her eyes.

"I see we've come to a conclusion then?" Quil Sr scowled at the room.

"It appears so" Billy nodded.

"Leah Clearwater" Quil Sr turned and looked her dead in the eye. "Just because your mother is an elder and you have a history with your alpha does not mean you will receive special treatment." Quil Sr took a moment to look at Sue then Sam then back to Leah. "Do you understand what you have done here tonight?"

"Yes" Leah said solemnly, being sure to look ashamed.

"Good, this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated again" Quil Sr stated before taking his leave.

Charlie looked over at Leah and Jacob, noticing how small his daughter looked in their presence. He noticed Bella was fast asleep and frowned slightly. After her long day today he didn't want to disrupt her.

"Sue, would you mind Bella staying here tonight? I don't want to try moving her or wake her" Charlie asked Sue as he stood.

"Not at all Charlie, I can drop her back at your house with enough time before school to get ready, tomorrow." Sue smiled sweetly.

"Leah," Charlie turned back to look at her "are we still on for this weekend?"

Leah beamed at Charlie, more excited than ever for the weekend fishing.

"Ofcourse, your place just after sunrise?" Leah inquired.

"Sounds good, I'll see you Saturday then?" Charlie surrendered a small smile.

Leah nodded as she stood, gently, careful not to jostle Bella. Leah walked up to her old room, that Sue had quickly converted into a guest room and tucked Bella in. She quickly went back downstairs and saw that Charlie, Jacob and Billy had left already. She found Sam and her mother sitting in the living room. She smiled at them meekly, unsure of where she stood with both of them.

"I would have done the same, Lee-Lee" Sam used his old nickname for her and sighed sadly, grateful it hadn't happened to him. Leah understood he wasn't mad at her when he used that nick name and quickly turned to face her mother.

"What are you and Charlie getting up to on the weekend?" Sue had a feeling she knew but wanted to hear it from Leah.

"We're going fishing" Leah smiled, finding she was actually very excited to get out on the water again.

"That's great, Dear. Why don't you go get some sleep?" Sue instructed. Leah didn't need to be told twice, she was exhausted. As Leah climbed the stairs she heard her mother offer Sam a cup of tea. As Leah climbed into bed beside Bella she wondered when the last time Sam had been in her house was. Bella rolled over and snuggled against Leah's side, flopping an arm and a leg over Leah's body. Leah smiled to herself as she wrapped an arm around Bella, holding her to her side firmly. She quickly drifted off to sleep.


	22. Trip Down Memory Lane

Leah's alarm went off and she was quick to shut it off. When she opened her eyes her room was still dark as the sun hadn't risen yet. She was used to being up this early and quickly pulled some clean clothes on. She preferred the early morning patrol because no one else was likely to phase during this time. Leah had slept in her old bedroom at her mother's house as it would be easier to leave on time. That was if Seth would get out of bed. Leah made her way to her brother's room and walked in without knocking. His alarm was going off but he was still fast asleep. Leah turned the alarm off and stood over her brother for a second then she unceremoniously slapped his cheek, hard. Seth sat upright, quickly and looked around, his eyes wide. Leah smiled sweetly at him as recognition dawned on him.

"Hey sleeping beauty, it's time to get up"

Seth looked out his window and groaned when he saw it was still dark. Leah left his room to go make coffee. Seth and Leah had loaded all the fishing gear into the trunk of their mother's car last night. Seth didn't have his own fishing gear so they decided he'd use Leah's and Leah would use her father's. All they had to do was pack all the food their mother had made them into the large cooler she had left on the kitchen island. Which Leah did as the coffee brewed. She heard Seth dragging his feet as he came down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen Leah thrust the full cooler into his arms.

"Go put this in the car"

Seth was too tired to protest and shuffled out the door to do as instructed.

Leah grabbed two travel mugs and poured coffee into them, once she had added the preferred milk and sugar to them she scooped up two of Emily's muffins they had commandeered the day before. She left the house just as Seth was coming back towards it, in his zombie state. Leah shoved his coffee and muffin into his now empty arms.

"Get in, we're leaving" Leah instructed.

Zombie Seth dragged his feet to the passenger side and got in. He was too tired to form words just yet. They both sipped their coffee and ate their muffins as they drove to the Swan residence. Leah was enjoying how subdued and quiet Seth was being, she knew this wasn't going to last though. They pulled in behind Bella's truck and Leah hopped out, leaving her coffee in the car. She played with the idea of quickly climbing into Bella's room to snuggle her for a few minutes but worried that Charlie had already seen the headlights pull up. Seth followed behind Leah, cradling his coffee, as they approached the front door. Leah knocked softly, not wanting to wake Bella. She was happily surprised when Bella opened the door, looking as much like a zombie as Seth did. Without a word, Bella walked into Leah's arms and buried her face in Leah's neck. Leah looked past Bella and into the house where Charlie was pouring coffee into a large soup thermos. Leah lifted Bella off the ground a little bit and carried her inside the house.

"Bella insisted on being woken up so she could wish us luck with the fish" Charlie chuckled as he looked over to see Bella half asleep in Leah's arms. "Although I haven't heard any well wishes yet"

"Luck" Bella mumbled.

Leah and Charlie laughed and Charlie turned his gaze to Seth.

"Good to see you could make it, Seth"

Seth looked up at the mention of his name and smiled sleepily.

"I guess the fish will just be for you and me then" Charlie chuckled lightly as he looked back at Leah who was now completely holding Bella up.

"Do you think you could help her find her bed again?" Charlie looked amused as he shook his head at Bella's behaviour. "Seth and I can load my gear into the car" Seth looked up at the mention of his name again.

"Yeah, no problem" Leah laughed lightly as she switched her hold on Bella so she was carrying her bridal style.

This seemed to wake Bella a bit as she looked up into Leah's eyes with a sleepy smile. Leah smiled back down at her as she carried Bella up to her room.

"I wanted to see you before you left" Bella mumbled.

"Was it worth it?" Leah snickered at her girlfriend as she tucked her into her bed.

"Kind of" Bella closed her eyes but made a puckering gesture, requesting Leah kiss her.

Leah obliged and kissed her gently before kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight" Leah whispered as she backed out of the room.

When Leah came back downstairs Charlie was loading the last of his gear into the trunk of Sue's car. Seth was sitting in the backseat, half-asleep, still holding his coffee as if his life depended on it. Leah rolled her eyes at him as she got in the driver's seat. Charlie locked the door and joined them in the car. Leah drove them down to where the townsfolk of Forks docked their boats and they arrived just as the sun was rising. Seth grunted as he took the view in, it had been ages since he had watched the sunrise. Leah rolled her eyes at him, she had tried to get him to wake up early with her numerous times to feel how magical the sunrise was as a wolf. Somehow Leah felt more connected to the spirits during the sunrise, the time of day seeming mystical. She used the time to connect with her wolf better and do her version of meditating, which she hadn't disclosed to anyone. They all grabbed gear from the trunk when Leah put the car in park. Charlie looking at the two Clearwater kids, impressed by the amount of stuff they could carry. They walked down the beaten up old dock to Charlie's boat and unloaded everything into it. Leah had always preferred fishing in Charlie's boat because it was a yacht compared to her father's. Her father just owned an aluminium boat with a simple engine on the back. Charlie, on the other hand, had a decently sized boat that had a cabin below deck. In the cabin, there was a bed that could sleep Harry, Charlie and herself when she was younger. It was a tight fit but it had worked the few times they made a weekend trip. There was also a small bathroom that contained a toilet and sink. Above deck, there was a modest seating area but it had a canopy that could be pulled up in case of rain. Though Charlie and her father always insisted on docking and getting out of the boat during the rain, just in case lightning made an appearance.

"Come on, kids we'll talk to Howard and get some live bait" Charlie gestured for the two to follow him up the dock when they had offloaded all the gear.

Leah and Seth followed Charlie up to a small shack near where they had parked. There were sun-bleached signs in the window of the shack advertising live bait, cigarettes, energy drinks and other things. In the window of the door a beaten up open sign hung and Charlie led them inside.

"Howard, how are you?" Charlie smiled at the man behind the counter.

"Good, as always Charlie" Howard beamed at the Chief before quickly taking in his companions.

"Howard, you remember Leah Clearwater?" Charlie grinned, like he was introducing his own daughter, proudly.

Howard's eyes bulged as recognition dawned on him. "How could I forget the young fishing protege?"

Leah smiled a little embarrassed. "Hey, Howie" She used his old nickname for her past. When she had met him she was so young she had trouble with the hard "ard" noise at the end of his name. So she had settled for calling him Howie and it had stuck.

"I've got just the thing for you, Leah" Howard grinned at her excitedly and turned around, looking through styrofoam cups before settling on one. He turned around, holding the selected cup in his hand, extending it out to Leah. In the cup was some dirt and wiggling worms. Leah smiled and took the cup, assessing how active the worms appeared to be.

"Nice and fresh, just how you like them" Howard's grin was stretching from ear to ear.

Leah laughed lightly as she remembered her father telling her the wiggly ones were the fresh ones. Since then Leah made it a point to look in the cup Howard would give them and demand wigglier worms if the current cup didn't meet her standards. It had been about 6 years since Leah had been here and she was touched that Howard still remembered to give her the fresh worms.

"Thanks, Howie, these look nice and…wiggly" Leah tried to hide how wide her smile was attempting to be.

Seth was looking over her shoulder and into the cup. He made a face when he realized what was in it.

"And can I assume this is little Seth Clearwater?" Howard turned his gaze to the young man.

Seth looked up and smiled but was obviously confused that this man knew his name.

"Sure is" Charlie clasped a hand on Seth's shoulder.

Howard whistled low but smiled at Seth pleasantly.

"Last time I saw you, you were about 5 years old" Howard shook his head in disbelief. "And you were bouncing around my shop like a mad man"

Leah snorted as an unexpected laugh escaped her.

"Oh don't worry, Howie, he's still like that. It's just too early for him right now" Leah reassured him.

"Well, it seems you've both grown into fine young people" Howard offered "do an old man a favour and swing by on your way out. I want to see this young man's first fish and put it on the wall" Howard gestured to the wall off to the side containing numerous pictures.

Leah jumped, amazed she had forgotten about the wall. It contained pictures of generations of kids' first catches.

"I forgot about the wall" Leah spoke as she walked over to it to take a closer look.

"What's the wall?" Seth asked as he followed behind Leah.

"It's a picture of the first fish you catch. Some people send Howie a copy but a lot of them are taken on the dock" Leah explained as she scanned the wall. She found the familiar photo she was looking for and pointed it out to Seth "that's dad back in the day."

Seth looked at the picture and pulled out his phone, snapping a picture of it.

"You looked like a carbon copy of him when you were last here," Howard said to Seth, "I thought I was losing it for a second. I had really hoped you had caught a fish that day so I could put your picture next to his"

Seth's eyes wandered to the left of his father's picture and spotted a young Leah struggling to hold up a fish that looked to be half as big as her. She wore a goofy smile, full of pride that Seth recognized as similar to his own.

"Oh, man Bella's going to love this!" Seth snickered as he snapped a photo.

"Your girl?" Howard turned to Charlie.

"Yeah" Charlie smiled pointing out a picture to Seth.

Leah had seen it before but had never fully appreciated. Bella looked to be about 9 and held a small fish up with a weak smile. Seth snapped a picture of this, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Hey, Charlie, is that you?" Seth pointed to a picture beside Bella's of a young boy grinning triumphantly for the camera. Charlie laughed and nodded.

"Alright, kids, let's go before all the fish are gone" Charlie snagged Seth before he could snap a picture but Leah hung back long enough to do this on her phone, thinking Bella might enjoy it. Leah turned as she was leaving and smiled at Howard.

"Don't worry, Howie I won't push him in this time. You'll get that picture"

Leah could hear the man laughing as she left, following Charlie and Seth back to the boat.

Once out on the water, Charlie began reteaching Seth how to put the worm on his hook. Leah made quick work of hers and cast her line out into the calm water. She watched as Seth struggled for a while and managed to cut himself with the hook. He began to bleed and Charlie stood to get the first aid kit.

"Don't bother, Charlie, it'll heal before you can get alcohol on it" Leah reassured him.

Charlie looked at her like she was speaking another language but she gestured to Seth's hand.

"It's already stopped bleeding" she commented, apologetically.

Charlie took Seth's hand in his own and studied the small cut. To Charlie's surprise, he could see it closing right in front of his eyes.

"How?" Charlie whispered as he wiped the wet blood from Seth's hand to get a better look. All that was left now was a small pink line where the cut had been.

"Didn't Billy tell you about the speed healing?" Seth asked as he took his hand back and began working on his worm again.

"Yes, but I didn't think…" Charlie trailed off.

To his credit, Charlie still managed to help Seth hook his worm while Seth excitedly told Charlie about Leah breaking a lot of bones on her one side. Charlie looked over at her, concern written all over his face.

"What would you say? Like a week and you were back to normal?" Seth asked Leah as he tried yet again to cast his line properly.

"Yeah about that" Leah responded "hey, Seth. Why don't you focus on fishing, I'll tell Charlie about the wolf stuff" Leah suggested, seeing that they were going to have to go a bit slower to fill in the gaps Billy had left.

Seth shrugged and reeled his line in and cast it again. Leah moved so she was sitting relatively close to Charlie as he cast his own line.

"What do you want to know?" Leah asked "I can tell you everything"

"Why was that Sam boy there?" Charlie spoke his name with a hint of disgust.

Leah knew where Charlie's dislike for Sam had come from. When Leah had found out about Sam and Emily she was distraught and had gone to her mother for comfort. To Leah's dismay both her parents were trying to get Leah to calm down because "Sam was a fine young man". Leah was outraged that her own parents would side with the man who had just cheated on her over their own daughter. Seth had been at a friends house and Leah had no one else but Charlie. Sobbing she had hopped on her bicycle and rode all the way to his house. When Leah had knocked on the door Charlie didn't say anything, he just pulled her into a tight hug and waited for her to tell him what was wrong. Leah didn't disclose much to him at first, fearing he would react the same as her parents. But the more Leah spoke the more upset Charlie was with Sam, and even though he tried not to show it he was upset with Harry and Sue. He couldn't think of a single reason why they would put that boy above their daughter. From that day forward Charlie hadn't liked Sam but kept things civil when around him. Charlie had tried asking Harry about the boy a few times but Harry only gave short answers insisting that Sam was a great help to the tribe.

"Sam is the alpha of our pack" Leah explained, smiling at Charlie.

Charlie grunted his disapproval for the boy but nodded.

"Jacob is actually the true alpha as dictated by his blood but he didn't want the position so it fell to Sam because he was the first to phase" Leah explained further.

"Jacob would make a better leader" Charlie stated, his face still one of disapproval.

"What Sam did to me isn't excusable but not for the reason you think" Leah sighed, reeling her line in slowly.

Charlie looked up at her, curious but recognizing that Leah would tell him when she was ready.

"He imprinted on Emily. To his credit, he did try to fight it but it wasn't enough" Leah shook her head, casting her line out again. "If he had just come to me and broke it off, I don't know, better. Or waited a bit longer before going public" Leah trailed off, unsure of how she would have prefered Sam to break her heart.

"Imprinting, what is that?" Charlie questioned, casting his own line back out "Billy mentioned it but didn't explain it. He said it was best left to you to explain"

Leah blushed lightly, silently cursing the old man for leaving her to explain this to her imprint's father.

"Well, we can only base our knowledge of this old magic on legends. We're kind of flying in the dark" Leah began, struggling with how she wanted to explain this to Charlie.

Charlie, the good listener he was, sat patiently waiting as Leah gathered her thoughts.

"Legends say imprinting is a blessing, and that is fairly rare. It only happens once a wolf has phased." Leah wrinkled her nose "Once he first lays eyes on his other half he knows. They are bound together and the wolf will do everything in his power to keep her safe and happy" Leah rolled her eyes as she recited the legend.

"Like a soulmate?" Charlie piped in, a little confused by Leah's eye-rolling as she had been the one to bring up imprinting.

"Yeah" Leah agreed, "People think the legends of imprinting are the spirits finding the strongest bloodline to carry the wolf gene down the generations. A few are a bit more romantic about it and think it's the spirits rewarding the wolf warrior for his devotion to the tribe."

Charlie nodded, following Leah so far.

"The problem with all the legends is they've never had a female shifter before" Leah watched Charlie's reaction. "Ever."

Charlie paused to think for a second then looked at Leah with a hint of pride. "So you're the first female shifter in history?"

"That we know of, yes" Leah answered.

"She's the fastest in the pack too" Seth piped in. "No one can catch her"

Leah rolled her eyes.

"So can't you just add "she" instead of "he" in the legends?" Charlie inquired.

"Everyone's been making an effort to be inclusive, yes but that's not what complicates things" Leah fidgeted, awkwardly.

Again Charlie waited for Leah to gather her thoughts, patient as ever.

"Well you see, I imprinted" Leah began and Charlie nodded, encouragingly. "On a woman…" Leah copped out of admitting it was Bella.

"So it threw a wrench into the whole imprinting to carry the bloodline down legend" Leah explained.

"You imprinted on Bella," Charlie stated.

"Y-yeah" Leah stuttered, caught off guard by how sharp Charlie was. She should have known he'd catch on, he was an observant man.

"Okay, a few things make a lot more sense now" Charlie stated, "So this imprinting, does the other person feel it too?"

Leah nodded, momentarily stunned at how well Charlie seemed to be taking this information.

"From what we've gathered the imprint feels the draw to the wolf too but it isn't always romantic" Leah explained. "You know Quil Jr?"

Charlie nodded.

"Well he imprinted on my cousin, Claire, but she's only two." Charlie made a face but was waiting for Leah to finish before passing judgment.

"They're like brother and sister or best friends. He has no romantic feelings towards her at all. From what we understand the wolf only reciprocates the feelings the imprint gives off." Charlie sat silent for a long time and Leah awaited his response anxiously.

"So if Bella were to break up with you and start dating someone else?" Charlie threw out the rhetorical.

"Then I'd be her best friend if she'd have me," Leah answered confidently.

Charlie nodded his approval.

"So Sam imprinted on your cousin?" Charlie went back to the beginning of their conversation "And they were instantly drawn to each other?"

"Yes," Leah responded.

"And Billy said you can read each other's minds?"

"Kind of, we have a mind link when we're wolves so we can communicate to protect the tribe" Leah placed her fishing rod in one of the pole holders "Some of us are better at hiding our more...intimate thoughts. But others are like an open book if you go probing which is generally frowned upon"

"Can you see Sam's thoughts of Emily?" Charlie asked, his voice full of fatherly concern.

"Yes" Leah frowned and Charlie mirrored it.

"It used to bother me a lot, and I'll admit I wasn't the nicest person to be around because of it…" Leah trailed off and looked at her brother who was adamantly staring out at the sea, pretending not to listen. "But then Bella came along. She took all of that anger and sadness away." Leah could feel her cheeks get a bit warm and hoped Charlie didn't see the blush.

"I'm glad" the corner of Charlie's mouth pulled up into a small smile.

After that, the conversation became a bit lighter. Charlie asked simple questions about their body temperature and who else was a wolf. They talked idly about Charlie's job and Charlie adamantly suggested Leah apply for a position. He joked that with her strength and heightened hearing/smell she'd make one hell of a cop. Leah was rolling this idea around in her head when she saw Seth's bobber dip under the water and pop back up quickly. She looked up to see Seth was asleep, still sitting upright and holding the pole. Leah quickly took a picture of him and sent it to Bella and her mother. His bobber went underwater again and Charlie nudged him.

"Seth you've got something," Charlie told him excitedly.

Seth woke with a start and pulled back on the line, hard. Once he did the bobber completely disappeared under the water but didn't resurface.

"You've got a fish!" Leah exclaimed.

"What do I do?!" Seth looked panicked as he held his rod for dear life.

"Reel it in, Son!" Charlie explained.

Seth started reeling in, quickly and Charlie moved over to help him, correcting his technique. Leah took another picture of the both of them and sent it to Bella and her mother again. Leah snickered knowing her mother would like that one. Seth looked terrified and determined at the same time while Charlie wore a face of pride and excitement. With Charlie's coaching Seth had pulled the fish in and he held it up by the fishing line. Seth beamed as he looked over at his sister.

"Leah! I caught one" He practically giggled the words.

Leah snapped another picture of him beaming at her, holding the fish up by the line.

"It's a pretty good one" Leah complimented him as she eyed the fish that was slightly longer than his forearm.

"Alright get that hook out of him and put him in the cooler with the ice" Charlie instructed with a large smile on his face.

Seth then looked at him with the innocence of a small child.

"Can you help me? He's wiggling too much" Seth asked as he tried to get a better grip on the squirming fish.

Bella woke to two texts from Leah which she eagerly opened. The first was of Seth asleep, holding a fishing rod. Underneath Leah wrote, "vigilant wolf, unaware of fish hooked on his line". Bella giggled at this and opened the next text which had another picture. This picture shows a nervously, determined Seth next to Charlie who looked excitedly proud. Charlie looked to be helping Seth reel something in. Underneath Leah wrote, "you'll have to wait to see the monster of a fish he caught". Bella smiled, loving that Charlie had someone to fish with again. She got up and showered quickly, noticing she had another new text message when she returned to her room.

'If you're not busy today feel free to come over' It was from Sue.

Bella smiled and responded 'House is too quiet, I'll be there in 30 min?'

Bella got dressed and saw the reply once she was done 'Sounds good, I'll have all embarrassing childhood pictures ready for your arrival'

Bella laughed and sent a quick text to Leah 'going to hang out with you mom since you stole my dad'

Bella went downstairs and poured herself a bowl of cereal. As she ate she received Leah's response 'Steel is a strong word. How about momentarily occupying his attention?'

Bella could feel the joking smirk in Leah's text and replied 'Well I'll be occupying my attention on old photo albums'.

Almost as soon as Bella had sent the text she received Leah's reply 'What are you talking about?'

'Your mom is going to pull out the old photo albums so I can have a peek' -Bella

'Whoa, that's not cool' -Leah

'I already know you were a cute kid, can't wait to see what kind of trouble you got up to' -Bella

'Yeah, well most of the embarrassing photos are Seth. I was sophisticated.' -Leah

'I have a strange memory of a professed love for making mud pies while naked' -Bella

'Good luck finding that picture, I hid it' -Leah

'There's photographic evidence of that?!' -Bella

'Guess you'll never know' -Leah

'I bet your mom knows where it is' -Bella

'Wish her good luck finding it' -Leah

'By the way, you made a cute fisherwoman' -Leah

Below that text was a picture of Bella when she was 9 holding up the first fish she had caught. She remembered the photo. Her father and the tackle shop owner encouraged her to hold the fish by the mouth, which she did to please her father. But she remembered how cold the fish was and how much it grossed her out. When they told her to smile for the picture she offered a weak smile. Bella was floored, she had to think back for a second to figure out how the hell Leah had found that picture. Then she remembered the wall of the first fish and had a vague recollection of Charlie pointing out Leah's picture on the wall.

'Send yours' -Bella

Bella put her empty cereal bowl in the sink and received another text from Leah. Instead of seeing a picture of young Leah, she saw her father, maybe 4 years old, holding a fish up and beaming. She smiled at this, amazed that there was a picture of Charlie in there that she hadn't known about. Underneath Leah wrote 'And so the addiction begins'

'He was born to fish. Now send yours' -Bella

It was just a picture without any smart ass remarks. A very young Leah was holding a massive fish that looked to be half the size of her. Bella smiled as she saw the massive grin the girl wore. Bella was definitely glad Charlie had Leah to fish with, the two seemed to enjoy the sport equally.

'Cute 3' -Bella

Bella arrived at the Clearwater residence a little after her estimated time of arrival. Sue greeted her with a big hug and invited her in.

"It's good to see you under friendlier circumstances" Sue beamed.

"You too" Bella smiled, shyly.

"Would you like some coffee? I think Leah made it before she left but I can make a fresh pot. Or are you a fan of tea? I just put a kettle on the stove" Sue asked as she started walking towards the kitchen.

"Tea would be nice" Bella stated as she followed Sue into the kitchen.

"I'm guessing Leah sent you the two pictures of the fishing trip too" Sue pondered as she leaned against one of the kitchen counters, waiting for her kettle to boil.

"Yeah" Bella snickered "And I made her send this too" Bella pulled out her phone and pulled up the photo of Leah holding her first fish, turning the phone so Sue could look.

"Oh, I love this photo of her. She was so excited when she got home" Sue reminisced. "She must have been four or five but she insisted on cleaning her own fish. God, Harry and I got into an argument about that. I was terrified of her cutting herself with that big knife."

Bella smiled, enjoying hearing about Leah when she was younger.

"She was stubborn though and I finally gave up. Harry did most of it but Leah was pleased to say that she had done it herself" Sue chuckled lightly. "Harry taught her how to make fish fry with that fish"

Bella could feel the large smile on her face and couldn't help herself. The idea of a stubborn 5-year-old Leah sounded too adorable.

"What about you, Dear?" Sue inquired "You must have a picture up on that first fish wall too"

Bella grumbled and pulled up the other picture Leah had sent of Bella at 9, holding up her fish hesitantly. Sue laughed and quickly covered her mouth, trying to stop the laughter.

"Oh I'm sorry, Dear"

"No, it's fine" Bella was laughing a bit too "I'm not a fan of the sport"

"I can see that" Sue was laughing now, seeing the misery behind the weak smile.

"How long did he have you out there fishing?" Sue inquired, still chuckling a bit as Bella put her phone away.

"God, it felt like an eternity" Bella groaned and the two snickered about it.

Sue made them each a mug of tea and they retired to the living room where Bella saw a stack of photo albums. Sue saw Bella eyeing them.

"I had the idea to look through these again after Leah and Charlie made plans to go fishing. It brought up a lot of old memories" Sue smiled softly at Bella. "Plus, there are some in here from when you would come down to visit"

Bella blushed at this, she hated pictures of herself, let alone what embarrassing pictures might be in there. Leah was always encouraging Bella to do something crazy and impulsive when they were kids.

"You were always so quiet and polite when you first arrived at the house. And by the end of the visit, you were just as…" Sue paused looking for the right word "boisterous as Leah" Sue laughed as she took a seat on the couch, Bella following her lead sitting next to her.

Sue opened the first album which looked to be baby pictures of Leah. Bella smiled as they flipped through the pictures of the chubby-cheeked baby girl. Sue pointed one out every once in a while to tell Bella a story about a certain outfit or something Leah had done. Near the end of the album, Leah was a toddler and there were two pictures of her and Leah playing together in the very living room she sat in now.

"I don't remember coming over here that often," Bella admitted.

"Oh yes, before your mother moved away you were over here all the time" Sue explained. "Leah only being a year older than you it was easy to put you two in a playpen and let your mothers have some quiet time. Though you were pretty quiet as was and your mother didn't seem to have her hands as full as me" Sue chuckled.

Bella smiled and Sue grabbed another album. There were a few pictures of Leah as a toddler with other children. Most notably, Bella noticed was a girl who looked a few years older than Leah. Bella pointed at her.

"Is that Emily?"

"Yes, Emily and Leah were inseparable, the two grew up more like sisters than cousins" Sue explained with a smile. "Emily was always more responsible and kept Leah grounded."

They flipped through a few more pages and Bella saw herself again. Leah Emily and herself were laying on the floor of Leah's room playing with toy cars. Leah was on her back, tilting her head back so she was looking at the others upside down. Emily was giving Leah a knowing look and Bella was smiling, shyly at Leah.

"Do you remember what was going on here?" Bella asked.

"I think Emily was trying to establish a speed limit for the cars and Leah was insisting that her car didn't need speed limits" Sue turned to Bella and smiled at her "you were probably quietly agreeing with Leah. You usually sided with her against Emily"

Bella blushed a little and looked back at the photo with a small smile. They flipped through some more and Bella was thoroughly enjoying herself as she sipped her tea. Sue continued to point out certain pictures and tell stories which Bella happily listened to. They continued flipping though and Leah appeared to be about 6 now. There was a photo of Leah pressing her ear to her mother's very pregnant stomach.

"She told me she could hear her little brother" Sue smiled at the memory as she pointed at the picture "We didn't know what gender the baby was going to be but Leah insisted that it would be a boy"

A page later there was a picture of Leah holding her newborn baby brother. She looked oddly calm in comparison to the pictures they had been looking at.

"She looks so calm" Bella commented

"Yes, she didn't want to hurt her brother" Sue explained with a large smile. "She loved her baby brother-well she still loves him dearly but now she won't admit it if you comment on it."

The next few pages were of baby Seth being held by many people, including Charlie and Emily. They flipped through pictures of Leah and Seth playing in the living room, Leah fishing with her father, Seth baking with his mother. Emily, Leah and Seth running through a sprinkler in the front yard. Bella couldn't help smiling at all the childhood pictures. Then they came across a page that seemed dedicated to one day.

"What's going on here?" Bella asked as she saw herself following Leah, both looking incredibly guilty.

"You don't remember?" Sue raised an eyebrow at her.

Bella squinted at the picture and then noticed what Leah was holding. It all came flooding back to her and she blushed while laughing.

"Oh god, I remember now" Bella snickered and laughed at the foggy memory of Leah grabbing her mother's makeup bag. Leah was about 9 years old, Bella 8 and Seth 3. Leah had told Bella that they could do Seth's makeup, and Bella being fascinated by the idea had gone along with it. Bella looked at the picture of the two of them guiltily taking the makeup bag back to Leah's room, apparently unaware that their picture was being taken.

"You two weren't very sneaky" Sue laughed as she studied Bella's gaze.

Bella laughed as they moved on to the next photo. It was Bella, Leah and Seth all sitting in Leah's bed, makeup products scattered all over the bed. Seth was already wearing one of Leah's dresses, though it was far too big on him. The two girls appeared to be giggling while Seth watched them with the fascination and idealization that only a baby brother could have for his older sister. The next picture showed the girls examining the products and showing each other different things. The next few photos were of the girls applying makeup to Seth's face. In some pictures, Seth looked upset but others he was smiling and laughing with the girls. The final few were of Seth standing in his dress, makeup all over his face, odd hair clips in his hair, grinning wide. The last one was of the three of them together. Seth still grinning for the camera and Leah and Bella on either side of him looking both guilty and pleased with themselves. Both of them had makeup all over their hands and clothes. Bella was laughing hysterically as she looked at the photos. She had had a vague memory of the event but she didn't remember it being this funny.

"Oh, poor little Seth" Bella managed.

"Are you kidding, he loved it" Sue laughed "He loved being the center of attention, especially his sister's attention."

They flipped through more photo albums and Bella saw a few of Sam and Leah as teenagers. There was one taken of both of them, Sam had his arm around Leah's waist, he looked incredibly nervous. Sam was wearing a nice shirt and tie. Leah, on the other hand, looked annoyed, wearing a casual hoodie and jeans.

"It was the first time Leah had brought him over to meet the parents" Sue explained with a small smile. "He was so nervous, I thought he was going to vomit"

Bella and Sue laughed at this lightly.

"They look so young…" Bella paused "and small"

Sue nodded her agreement. Bella was more focused on Sam in these pictures. She knew the pictures weren't that old but Sam looked so different. He was still fairly tall in the pictures but he looked kind of lanky. She couldn't see any apparent muscle definition on him at all. She shifted her attention to Leah and smiled at her mildly annoyed look. She still looked stunning in the pictures and her imprint pull twinged a little as she realised she missed Leah and was eager for her to come home. The next few photos showed Seth and Sam pulling faces at the camera and striking weird poses with an embarrassed Leah in the background with Emily. They appeared to be at a backyard BBQ. The last few pages in the last album showed Seth and his father and mother a lot. There weren't many of Leah and the few that there were; she looked utterly miserable under a fake forced smile. Bella then spotted the lack of Harry in the pictures and could see the two Clearwater children had physically changed a lot. She knew these last photos were very recent. Sue closed the last album and turned to Bella, smiling.

"Thank you for sharing those with me" Bella smiled back at Sue.

"Of course" Sue seemed surprised at Bella's comment "you've always been a part of this family. It is interesting to look back on how you and Leah interacted as kids, now that you two have imprinted" Sue commented.

"What do you mean?" Bella was curious now.

"Well you always went along with Leah's crazy ideas but if you two ever got in trouble she always insisted it was all her fault. Which she never did for anyone else. She was always quite protective of you" Sue smiled at the memory.

Just then they heard the crunch of tires on gravel.

"Speak of the devil sounds like our fisherfolk are home" Sue smiled as she stood up.

As if on cue Seth came running into the house with a large cooler and Bella could hear ice sloshing around in it.

"MOM-MOM!" Seth was yelling as he ran into the living room "Look at the fish I caught!" Seth set the cooler down on the ground and opened it up to pull out a fish by its mouth.

"Seth, take those out to the backyard!" Sue protested at the fish being so near to her photo albums. "I'll come to look out there"

Seth didn't even look fazed as he dropped the fish back into the cooler and picked it back up, taking it out the back door. Bella stood, anxious to see Leah but only had to wait for a second as Leah and Charlie entered the house, carrying fishing gear. Leah's eyes instantly found Bella's and she gave Bella a small smile which made Bella's stomach flutter slightly.

"Hey Bells" Charlie greeted her and Bella turned her smile to her father.

"How were the fish, Dad?" Bella asked as she approached the two.

"Hungry, we caught a lot" Charlie smiled as the two hugged briefly.

"Charlie, I've got the knife!" Seth's voice called from the backyard.

"I promised Seth I'd show him how to clean the fish" Charlie smiled at Bella as he moved to the backdoor.

"Hey mum, I heard you were going through the old albums so I had Howard take two pictures so you could have one" Leah explained as she moved into the living room.

Leah handed Sue a polaroid and Bella glanced at it as it passed in front of her. In the picture was Seth holding a fish up, his 100-watt smile glowing with pride. On the bottom of the picture was a handwritten note that said "First fish 13.6 inches".

"This is wonderful, Leah" Sue smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug before turning her attention to the albums.

Leah set her fishing gear down and pulled Bella into a tight hug. Bella sighed and held onto her girlfriend, burying her face in Leah's neck. Bella inhaled deeply and noted that Leah's usual woodsy smell had a hint of saltwater to it.

"I missed you" Bella mumbled against Leah's neck.

"I missed you too" Leah chuckled as she kissed the top of Bella's head.

Reluctantly the two released each other and Bella helped Leah put the fishing gear away. Sue decided they would do a fish fry for dinner and insisted Charlie stay. Charlie and Seth were out back still cleaning the fish and Sue went to work in the kitchen, preparing ingredients for the fish. Leah took this opportunity to sit on the couch and pull Bella into her lap. Bella hadn't really seen Leah all week and had lost her time with Leah today. So when she was seated in Leah's lap she quickly wrapped her arms around Leah's neck and crushed her lips to hers. Leah tightened her hold around Leah's waist, pleasantly surprised by Bella's kiss. Bella readjusted herself so she was now straddling Leah, with each leg on either side of Leah. Leah's one hand moved down to Bella's ass while the other snaked under her shirt, resting on the small of Bella's back. They desperately tried to communicate with each other through kisses and touch how much they had missed each other until Leah pulled away quickly. Bella protested with a groan and buried her fingers in the hair at the base of Leah's neck, about to pull her back in when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Seth came trotting into the living room and froze. He saw Bella straddling Leah on the couch, her hands deeply rooted in Leah's hair, her face inches from his sister's. Leah's hands were quickly moving away from Bella's ass and out from under her shirt but Seth had seen it all.

"Jesus, you have your own house" Seth grumbled.

"What do you want Seth?" Leah sighed, knowing this scene would make it into the pack mind due to Seth's poor skill at hiding his thoughts.

"Mum wants your help with making the fries," Seth said as he turned away from the two.

Leah groaned momentarily and slid her hands up Bella's back, on top of her shirt.

"Do you think your dad will let you sleepover at my place, tonight, now that he knows everything?" Leah looked up at her girlfriend, hopefully.

"Can't hurt to ask" Bella smiled down at her giving her a chaste kiss before getting up to help in the kitchen.

_Authors Note: I'm writing this during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning I'm stuck at home all day every day. I created a discord server __(fanfiction isn't allowing me to post links so you will have to type h-t-t-p-s __: / / discord. gg/ sRVeGXH minus all the spaces and __hyphens__)__ if anyone wants to hang out and talk either in text or voice chat. I think it'd be cool to talk to and meet new people. Plus, I'm almost done all my puzzles...so I'm running out of activities._


	23. Split Personality

Bella and Leah were quickly put to work peeling and slicing potatoes. Leah, not wanting to waste her precious time with Bella, making french fries, used her wolf speed to be done faster. By the time Bella had three potatoes ready to be fried Leah had ten done. Bella looked over at Leah and gave an exasperated sigh.

"That's cheating, you know?"

"What?" Leah looked completely oblivious to what she was referring to.

"You can't be all supernatural when doing everyday tasks" Bella stuck her bottom lip out in a pout that had Leah melting.

"Why not?" Leah leaned closer to Bella, forgetting her potatoes.

"B-because…" Bella stammered, she had forgotten her train of thought in Leah's eyes. She leaned closer to Leah, their faces mere inches from each other. She could smell the saltwater and pine scent radiating off of Leah.

"Ahem" Sue cleared her throat from the stove, not too far from the two women.

Bella jumped back, startled. Leah stood her ground but her face changed from love sick puppy to mild annoyance as she grumbled.

"Are those fries almost ready for the oil?" Sue asked, conveniently disregarding the situation she had just interrupted.

"Yeah, just a few more left" Leah grumbled and made quick work of the few potatoes left.

"Good, the fryer just reached temperature" Sue turned and smiled at the two, noting Bella's light blush.

"Yeah, great" Leah grumbled under her breath. All she wanted to do is forget dinner and take Bella home so they could finally be alone. Her wolf bristled under the surface demanding to know why they must continue such trivial human tasks. Leah had a sudden primal urge to hunt a deer and bring it home for her imprint, allowing her the first pick at the animal for the choice parts. A small hand rested on Leah's back, rubbing small circles.

"You okay?" Bella asked, voice full of concern.

"Hm? Yeah" Leah hadn't noticed she was growling, quietly, until Bella had touched her.

Leah shook her head to clear it, wishing she could explain human things to her wolf. She thought about this for a minute. She understood wolf mentality and mannerisms but did her wolf understand her mentality and mannerisms? She made a mental note to herself to try and communicate with her wolf more. Even this thought had her scoffing out loud. They were the same person-or beast. She hadn't really thought this through too much. She never referred to the wolf as herself because she wasn't Leah. The powerful wolf was part of her, there was no doubt in her mind about that but they were two different souls. At this thought she felt her wolf, as if she were rubbing up against Leah's soul gently. Leah wasn't sure if she was just making this up or not, she felt ridiculous putting this much thought into something like this. She exploded into a wolf that was it, no further explanation or thought needed.

Leah focused her attention back on the kitchen and noticed Bella sitting up on the counter, watching her. Leah gave her a soft smile which Bella returned, with a hint of curiosity glinting in her eyes. Leah noticed Bella had already put the fries in the deep fryer and lightly shook herself, wondering at how deep in thought she must have been.

Leah and Bella set the table and hovered in the dinning room while Sue helped the boys fry the fish.

"What were you thinking about in there?" Bella asked as she snaked her arms around Leah's waist, looking up at her.

"Just wolf stuff" Leah repiled, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"Hmm, you looked like you were miles away" Bella kissed Leah's chin.

"Yeah, I guess I was having a bit of an existential crisis" Leah chuckled lightly.

Bella only nodded in response, understanding that Leah would explain further when she was ready.

Dinner was uneventful, everyone fully enjoying the fresh fish fry. The Clearwater children thanked Charlie for taking them fishing and he blushed muttering that it was no big deal. They made plans to go again some time soon, if the weather held up for them.

Everyone gathered in the front hall, Charlie turned to look at Leah.

"If you're serious about joining the police force you should visit the Port Angeles website and look under jobs, there's a posting for Forks police"

Bella and Sue both looked at Leah, almost having the same expression of surprise and curiosity.

"I'll do that, Charlie," Leah nodded once.

"Alright Bells, let's get going" Charlie turned to his daughter but noticed she wasn't meeting his gaze.

"I er, I was thinking I'd stay at Leah's" Bella mumbled quietly, studying her shoes "If that's okay" She added quickly, looking up at Charlie, with a light blush.

"Oh" Charlie grunted, awkwardly "I guess that's okay, you're almost an adult" He looked at Leah who was smiling lightly.

He trusted his daughter with Leah but was uncertain if she was safe. Leah was some sort of mystical wolf after all. Charlie shook his head, he still couldn't believe that his friend's two children were some sort of magic beasts.

"Let's just not make a habit of it on school nights" Charlie grunted, eyeing Leah.

"Of course, Chief" Leah nodded once, wrapping an arm around Bella's waist.

"Well why don't I give you a lift home then?" Sue offered Charlie.

"That'd be great" Charlie smiled at Sue and Bella noticed the small excitement in his eyes.

Bella and Leah cuddled close to each other, both half naked, in Leah's bed.

"So you're going to be a cop?" Bella mused as she traced patterns on Leah's bare stomach.

"If I'm accepted, it seems like a job I could do pretty well" Leah nodded, rubbing small circles on Bella's back, over one of Leah's oversized t-shirts.

"It seems like it'd be a good fit for you" Bella agreed. "One of Dad's co-workers is retiring soon and he's been having trouble finding someone interested in applying"

"Ahh! So I'm the sucker he convinced to take the spot" Leah laughed.

"I'm sure it's more than that"

"I know, I'm playing around" Leah smiled reassuringly at her girlfriend.

Leah woke to a high pitched screeching noise. She blindly grabbed at her phone and silenced the noise. Ever since Bella had started sleeping over Leah had changed the alarm noise to one human ears couldn't pick up. She had felt fairly clever for thinking of this application but Bella liked to tease her calling it the dog whistle. Leah smirked to herself as she carefully squirmed out from under Bella. She always made a show of being hurt whenever Bella called it a dog whistle but she secretly loved the joke. She kissed her girlfriend's forehead before glancing at the time on her phone, 3:50am. Ten minutes until her patrol started. She grabbed a tank top and threw it over her shoulder as she made her way into the kitchen. Leah snacked on some left over fish fry before wandering out her back door. She took off her cotton shorts, stuffed them into the leather strap around her ankle with her tank top before phasing. She took off into the woods as a wolf and began the boring task of running patrol.

As it got closer to sunrise Leah deviated off her patrol route and made her way towards her secret spot. She sat on the edge of a cliff that looked out onto more forest. She loved this spot because she was able to watch the sunrise and no one knew about it. There were other spots near the beach that were nice too but it was contaminated by others knowing of it. She knew if Sam found out that she deviated from her patrol to watch the sunrise every morning she would be in serious trouble. Leah always made up for the time she spent admiring the sun by running the next circuit of the patrol in a sprint. Though she doubted Sam would accept this as validation she told herself this as reassurance for her small rebelion.

Leah sat back on her hind legs and took in a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air that can only be experienced in the early hours of the morning. The sky started to turn from dark blue into a beautiful violet. She started reflecting on her connection with her wolf and the strange feeling she experienced in the kitchen of soft fur ghosting against her. At this she felt the feeling again accompanied by slight contentment. Leah jolted slightly, she hadn't imagined it earlier. There was another being influencing her emotions and nerves. She knew her wolf influenced her anger but never in a million years did she think the creature was capable of other emotions.

She stared out at the sky as it shifted in spots from violet to pink. Leah wasn't sure what to do with this new information about her wolf and how well they might actually be able to communicate. As she thought about ways to understand her wolf more while also feeling a bit delusional her mind seemed to wander to memories of hanging out with Bella as a wolf. She was having such a hard time focusing on understanding her wolf because these memories kept intruding. She started to get frustrated and huffed her annoyance with herself. Then she felt her wolf bristle, almost mirroring her frustration. Leah paused and began to wonder why her wolf would be frustrated when the memories started interrupting her thoughts again. Then it hit her, she wasn't remembering this time with Bella, her wolf was. Leah physically jumped, now standing, she paced circles at the edge of her cliff. She was completely freaked out by having another thinking being in her head. Well she supposed she already did when she was in wolf form but those beings she could place a physical body to. This was something completely different, like having a split personality without knowing about it.

Again the memory of her as a wolf and Bella curled up in her fur hit her, more persistent than before. Sheer curiosity had Leah stop her pacing as she closed her eyes and focused on the memory. Her wolf was trying to tell her something with these memories. She was remembering the feeling of Bella's body weight against her, the sweet lavender scent that rolled off of her. Rather than feeling the strong content Leah had expected she felt something like gratitude. At first she thought this was her own gratitude that Bella wasn't scared of her in wolf form until she realized it was her wolf thankful for being able to spend time with Bella. Leah shuddered to herself. She was thoroughly freaked out by this, communicating with her split personality. Leah shook her head and opened her eyes, sun rise forgotten, she ran off to continue her patrol.

Leah ran the rest of her patrol in a bit of a haze. She had somehow opened the floodgates by acknowledging her wolf's emotions. Leah was hit with many of her own memories but they were all slightly off, they weren't remembered the right way. The memories seemed more like a stranger watching but through her own eyes and that's how Leah knew they were of her wolf watching her life. Leah shuddered again, slightly off put by the thought of her wolf assessing her life. It also brought a frightening question to the forefront of her mind. How many of her actions were her own and how many were controlled by the wolf?

When Leah's patrol was finished at 7am she phased in the woods on the edge of her backyard, pulling her clothes on as she walked towards the house. As she exited the woods she noticed Bella starting to stand from her sitting position on the back stairs.

"Morning, Sweetheart" Bella greeted as she walked towards Leah with a shy smile.

"Mmm Sweetheart, eh?" Leah wrapped her arms around Bella's shoulders as they met in the middle of the backyard.

"Well you can try and hide it all you want but Seth and I see you" Bella quickly pecked Leah before breaking away from their embrace.

"What?! You two know?" Leah slapped a hand over her heart, jokingly gasping at Bella.

"You're such a dork" Bella snorted as she walked back towards the house "I need coffee before I can fully appreciate such things."

"Yeah, what are you doing up so early?" Leah followed Bella's lead, taking hold of her hand.

"Well your mom came by maybe 15 minutes ago. She had found another box of your old stuff and wanted to drop it off before she got started on her day" Leah listened then gave Bella a very obvious up and down, noting she was still just wearing a large t-shirt and panties.

"The doorbell startled me, I didn't think to grab pants" Bella grumbled glaring at Leah a bit "it was plenty embarrassing and I'd like to forget it happened" even just the memory of the situation had a light blush playing across her face.

"Okay, so why were you outside?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't phase until you got the back door so I could say good morning to my wolf"

Leah grunted her understanding, ending the conversation without sarcastically teasing Bella about referring to her wolf as Bella's.

"Everything okay?" Bella tugged on their connected hands, forcing Leah to stop in the kitchen with her.

"Yeah" Leah nodded and kissed the top of Bella's head before releasing her hand.

Bella eyed Leah, unconvinced but decided Leah would tell her when she was ready.

"Oh no way!" Leah lit up when her eyes fell on the box on the kitchen table. "No fucking way!"

Bella poured Leah and herself some coffee. As she watched Leah pull items from the box excitedly. Leah suddenly started shoving wires and video game cases back into the box before taking a few steps towards the living room.

"C'mon, babe!"

"Babe, eh?" Bella grabbed the mug she had poured for Leah and followed her girlfriend.

"Well yeah, you're a knockout. A fuckin' babe" Leah explained from her spot on the floor, in front of the tiny tv.

Bella could feel the deep blush play across her face as she set Leah's coffee down on the coffee table. Bella sat on the couch, tucking her feet under her butt.

"I don't know about knockout…" Bella muttered, embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable by the obviously wrong classification.

Leah literally dropped what she was doing and spun to face Bella, with her full supernatural speed.

"Whoa! Hold up" Leah stood and quickly sat herself on the couch, facing Bella.

"Do you not know how drop dead gorgeous you are? You're like-"

"I'm so pale, and my hair is-" Bella interrupted before being interrupted herself.

"God, you're a fucking ten Bella! No you break the scale" Leah flailed her arms in the air, exasperated. "You make a whole new scale, you make the old scale look like dog shit" Bella opened her mouth to protest but Leah continued her rant, not noticing.

"I mean if I was a guy, damn things would get awkward" Leah chuckled a bit "I can't look at you without thinking about having my hands all over you. I can't believe you're actually my girlfriend, sometimes." Leah sighed, her eyes hungrily traveling up and down Bella again.

Bella's face was a bright red now, she didn't know how to handle all of this attention. She didn't feel as attractive as Leah was expressing but she could see that Leah believed what she was saying.

"You're joking right?" Bella set her coffee on the table, unsure how Leah could be so delusional.

"You have an actual six pack. You're tall, tanned, you've got the most beautiful face I've ever seen, and I've met vampires."

Leah made a face at this.

"Yeah okay, not the best example for you but it makes a lot of sense to me and any other human."

"God, and you're humble on top of it all" Leah groaned, wanting Bella to understand just what she did to her.

Bella opened her mouth to protest again but Leah lunged forward, firmly planting her lips against Bella's.

Bella let out a small surprised noise before wrapping her arms around Leah's neck. Leah wrapped an arm around Bella's waist as their kiss deepened. Leah cupped Bella's face with her free hand, caressing her cheek with her thumb. Bella mused, contentedly, playing with the hair at the back of Leah's neck. Their desperate kissing became slower and more meaningful. Slowly Bella pulled away with a soft smile playing across her face.

"It's hard to argue with you when you cheat like that"

Leah smirked lightly, pleased with herself, still incredibly close to Bella's face.

"I love you"

Bella jolted slightly, she wasn't expecting Leah to say that.

"Oh I'm sorry, is that too soon?" Leah backed away from Bella, rubbing the back of her neck.

"No-no, you just caught me off guard" Bella reassured as she placed her hand on Leah's thigh.

"I love you too"

Leah grinned at her and Bella gave her a shy smile, blushing lightly.

"So uh, what did you mom bring by?"

"Oh man!" Leah jumped up and resumed her spot in front of the tv.

"It's our old Gamecube"

"You seem pretty happy about it. Why'd you leave it when you moved?" Bella grabbed her coffee and sipped it while watching Leah.

"I didn't know we still had it" Leah laughed "Seth and I would fight all the time because of something that happened in a game. Mum was so fed up with it she told us she donated it to kids who were better behaved"

"You guys must have been really bad. I guess wolf temper is pretty hard to control."

"Oh, this was like three or four years ago" Leah pushed the tv back into place.

"What? Wait-what the hell are you two going to be like now?" Bella asked mortified.

"Dunno. Wanna play Mario Party?" Leah sat on the couch handing Bella a purple controller.

"Er, I'm not really good at video games. I only ever played when I visited Jake and it was raining…"

"That's okay, Mario Party is easy to pick up. I'm sure you'll do great." Leah grinned at her as she kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.

"Yeah okay…" Bella skeptically set her coffee down again as Leah began explaining rules and controls.

Bella was just starting to get the hang of the controls when Seth came barreling through the front door.

"MUM! She didn't donate it!" Seth was panting as he barged into the living room.

Bella and Leah both jumped in surprise. Leah was so into the game she hadn't heard Seth approaching. Leah quickly jumped up and put herself between Bella and Seth. Bella let out a squeak, pulling the bottom of the t-shirt trying to cover her lack of pants.

"She had it this whole time!" Seth exclaimed gleefully as he ignored Bella on the couch. Seth tried to take a step into the living room but Leah shoved him back, violently. Seth wasn't anticipating the shove and landed in the hallway on his butt. Leah stood over him, growling quietly. Seth finally took in the situation around him and looked a bit sheepish.

"Sorry Bella" he looked down at his feet as he stood. "I'm gonna go grab some coffee" Seth jerked his thumb over his shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.

Leah stood her ground but hung her head. She was ashamed that she had shoved her brother even though she knew he probably hadn't seen her imprint. Even if he had, he had already seen her in her underwear. Leah even wondered how much more he had seen through their mind link. She had no trouble hiding from the others but she always let her guard slip around Seth. He was the only one she had fully confided in when she phased. They hadn't been on patrol with each other since Leah had marked Bella so he couldn't have seen too much.

"I'm going to go grab some pants" Bella placed a hand on Leah's cheek before moving towards the bedroom.

Leah watched Bella until the door closed. As soon as the door clicked Leah heard Seth coming back to the living room.

"Hey, I'm sorry I should have knocked" Seth said sheepishly as he clutched his coffee mug.

"You've never been good at knocking" Leah grumbled "I'm sorry for pushing you"

"Even, Steven?" Seth grinned his charming smile.

"Level, fellow." Leah smirked at her little brother.

"Can you believe it was in the house all those years?" Seth asked as he knelt, rifling through the games.

"No! I bet if we tried we could have found it" Leah sipped her now cold coffee and frowned at it.

"Seth, did you eat before you left?" Bella asked from the doorway of the living room.

"Oh no!" Leah made her way over to Bella and pecked her quickly. "You've done way too much of the cooking. I'm making breakfast today"

Bella made a face "you're a sweetheart but I don't mind at all"

"I insist, babe" Leah grinned as she wiggled past Bella in the doorframe.

"No, you play your gamebox with Seth!" Bella insisted as she tried to pull Leah back.

Leah and Seth laughed together while Leah gently pushed Bella back towards the living room. Before Bella could protest again Leah took off into the kitchen.

"What's so funny?" Bella sighed as she sat on the couch again.

"It's called Gamecube" Seth explained as he examined the game on the screen.

"Oh…"

"You're playing as Boo?" Seth inquired as he sat on the couch picking up Leah's controller.

"Oh yeah" Bella smiled, happy to move past her mistake "he looked super cute and spooky"

"Yeah, Boo is the best character" Seth agreed. "Leah always plays as Wario, who is by far the worst character." Seth pointed at the fat man wearing purple on the screen.

"Uhm, if he's the worst why does he have his own game and Boo doesn't?" Leah called from the kitchen.

"Just because he has his own game doesn't mean he isn't the worst!" Seth shook his head, turning his attention back to the game.

Bella was snickering as she watched Seth take his turn.

"God, if this is over characters I understand why your mom took this away from you two."

"Wait until you see us play mario kart" Seth grinned at Bella.

"How about we give me some time to get used to the controls before you two break out the donation worthy games"

Author's note; sorry this took so long to come out. Life has been chaos with modifications being made around COVID-19 restrictions. I do have a clear timeline for this story, so everything is happening for a reason. I need to lay some ground work for future chapters.


	24. Police Academy

Leah was anxious about her first day at the station. So much so that she had arrived 45 minutes early. She didn't want to seem too eager so she sat on a fallen tree just inside the forest. Reviewing how this had all happened.

Leah had followed Charlie's instructions and applied online Monday morning. By about noon her phone rang and a kind woman had asked her a few questions over the phone. Leah assumed she had said the right things because the woman asked if Leah could come in on Thursday to speak with the Captain at the Port Angeles station. Leah was a nervous wreck leading up to Thursday. She hadn't really understood how much she wanted this job until the idea of losing the opportunity had come up. With an income Leah could really work on the house and make it so much better. She would renovate the bathroom first. She also wanted the position because compared to her other options it was the best by far.

When Thursday morning came Leah fretted over the clothing she had bought. She had gone to a fairly inexpensive clothing store in Forks and grabbed a simple black dress as none of the pants fit her properly. For what seemed like the millionth time she wished she hadn't phased so she could wear pants and a blouse. Sue picked her up and then drove back to the Clearwater's allowing Leah to borrow the car for the day.

When Leah arrived at the police station in Port Angeles she felt like she might vomit. A woman in uniform greeted her from the front desk and ushered her into the back office where she sat in a small waiting area. Leah watched as officers buzzed around the office, carrying papers or coffee. It didn't take long for an older man to walk up to her and extend his hand.

"Leah, Clearwater?"

Leah stood and nodded as she shook his hand, maybe squeezing his hand a little too hard due to her nerves.

"I'm Captain Jim Brown" he glanced at their hands before releasing hers and leading her back to his office.

Jim motioned to a chair across from his desk and sat in his chair.

"So, Leah, you seem like you work out a lot" Jim stated as he eyed Leah's large shoulders and arms.

"Uh, yeah kind of" Leah wasn't expecting this kind of comment. She had only prepared for standard interview questions like 'where do you see yourself in five years?'

"What kind of work out routine do you have? Judging by that handshake I might have to tell the boys to pick it up" Jim chuckled.

"Uh" Leah was thoroughly panicked now, she had to think of a convincing lie quickly.

"I used to do track and field in high school and just never dropped the habits" Leah stated patting herself on the back as running as a wolf was kind of like running track. Lots of running and jumping.

"Oh yeah? My youngest son does long jump. What was your event?" Jim smiled now, with a bit of fatherly pride.

"Uhm, a bit of everything?" Leah didn't know too much about track but she knew people did multiple events.

"Wow" Jim leaned back in his chair and eyed Leah, impressed. "How'd you balance your school work with all the practice?"

Leah shrugged, she was going to get caught up in this lie. He obviously knew a lot about track and she didn't know enough. She had to back pedal.

"Well, I dabbled in everything but my main event was hurtles. I didn't practice for the others, just gave them a shot at meets" Leah smiled sheepishly.

Jim laughed loudly "I like your style. Did you place in any of the other events?"

"No, none of the other events" Leah smiled sheepishly.

"Well, Chief Swan should have no problem making a decision" Jim said as he stood, extending his hand to Leah again.

"What, that's it?" Leah stood and shook his hand, confused.

"Yep, a bit unnecessary if you ask me. I don't really have a say in who they hire over in Forks." Jim led them out of his office "I can always put in a good word but I don't think you'll need one. I'm sure Charlie will like you too"

"So this wasn't an interview?" Leah couldn't stop the stupid question from leaving her mouth.

"No, I'm just here to get a feel of the person because I've had a lot more people come and go through my doors. Charlie has got a station full of lifers" Jim laughed loudly as the two loitered by the reception desk "I'm sure he'll be glad to have some young blood, especially in your physical shape."

"Thank you?" Leah was a bit lost still.

"You'll have no problem running down all the purse thieves in Forks" Jim suddenly got serious "but if you ever decide Forks is too quiet you give me a call, I'll make some room for you over here"

"Jim, you can't poach Chief Swan's people. You know he's having a hard time filling that position" the receptionist scolded Jim.

"I know, I know" Jim frowned at the woman then turned back to Leah with a smile "good to meet you, Leah" in a more hushed voice "give me a call when you get bored over there"

"Uh, good to meet you too" Leah nodded once before leaving.

Leah glanced at her phone, it was still 15 minutes until she was supposed to start but she couldn't wait any longer. She checked to make sure no one was looking before she exited the woods, making her way into the station. As she did she noted a few people milling around in the break room, one was putting a lunch bag in the fridge. Bella had texted her the night before telling her not to pack a lunch but now she felt stupid. She also didn't know if she should go into the break room or stand in the front lobby or if she should go towards Charlie's desk. She continued to stand in the lobby awkwardly as she looked around and noticed a few faces she recognized. Notably was the deputy who had come to the school with Charlie when she punched the Liam kid.

As if on cue the deputy made eye contact with her and waved her over. Leah put up her walls and walked over to the break room.

"Leah, right?" The deputy asked once she reached the breakroom.

"Yeah, Robert?" Leah countered.

He nodded and grinned at her.

"Wait you were here a little while back for punching that high school boy!" A different officer blurted.

"Yeah, that's right. You snapped Charlie's handcuffs." Another added.

"They were faulty...must have been a weak chain link" Leah mumbled, hiding how mortified she was at the fact that she was here not too long ago facing assault charges.

She could see the other officers were looking at her skeptically now, probably wondering why Charlie had hired someone who assaulted people.

"C'mon guys, that kid put his hands on Charlie's little girl" Robert interjected. "I would have broken the guys nose if it were me"

Leah gave Robert a grateful smile. The group broke into hypotheticals of what they would have done to the boy if they had been in Leah's shoes. One slapped Leah on the back and laughed.

"I like you already. Bella takes care of us over here so we like to help her out, any chance we get."

"Is anyone planning on working today?" Charlie's voice cut through the playful chatter and everyone turned to look at him sheepishly.

Charlie walked into the breakroom holding two paper bags.

"Oh man, did Bella send treats?" One of the officers eyed the extra bag excitedly.

"No, this is for Leah" Charlie shoved both in the fridge.

Leah eyed the closed fridge and smiled a little to herself. Everyone strayed off to their work and Charlie smiled at Leah.

"They're not giving you too hard of a time are they?"

"No, not at all" Leah assured Charlie.

"Good. Come with me"

Leah followed Charlie back to a storage room and he pulled out a worn uniform top, handing it to her.

"We'll have to order you a new uniform but this should do for now. Come find me when you've changed."

Leah quickly pulled the shirt on over her tank top, noting it was a bit big on her. She tucked the bottom of it into her jeans and left the storage room to find Charlie.

Her first week was uneventful. She rode with Charlie as he explained rules and situations to her. He explained she wouldn't be given a gun until she took and passed a safe gun handling class at the Port Angeles station. The most eventful thing they saw in the week was the local drunk causing a disturbance at the supermarket. Charlie greeted him by name and they brought him back to the station to sober up.

Charlie explained they didn't see much in Forks. He then told her about the wild animal that was killing people a year back.

"Then there were the wolf sightings and everyone thought a pack was killing those people"

"Yeah...that was our pack looking for the killer"

"Oh." Charlie was taken back by this a bit.

"Yeah, Dad led the hunting parties so you would never accidentally run into us" Leah laughed lightly.

Charlie laughed loudly "he should have just told us to stay home, instead of wasting our time"

"You would have never listened after Bella told you she came face to face with one of us" Leah snorted at how idiotic Sam and Jacob had been.

"Ah, you're right"

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

"Who did Bells run into?"

"Sam and Jacob for sure, maybe Paul and Jared, possibly Quil"

Charlie made a strange noise and when Leah looked over at him he looked shocked.

"You okay Charlie?"

"Jacob is a part of your group too?"

"Mhm, he's actually supposed to be the a

Alpha because his Grandfather was the last true tribe leader but he doesn't want the position. So he's left it to Sam"

"I see"

"Sorry, Charlie I thought you knew because Jacob was there the night I was getting scolded"

"It makes sense, I guess I just have a hard time coming to terms with all of this"

"That's okay, take your time with it. I'm not particularly stoked about all of it either"

They parked in the middle of downtown Forks, each carrying their packed lunches.

"You said your group was looking for the killer…" Charlie trailed off as he sat down on a bench leaving the implied question hanging in the air.

"Yeah…" Leah hesitated, she couldn't tell anyone about what the Cullens were but she didn't know if this included telling someone about vampires in general.

"Is it more crazy supernatural stuff?" Charlie pondered over Leah's hesitation.

"Yeah"

"Has the threat been taken care of?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't want to know. Whatever happens on that reservation is crazy enough for me. I rather not talk about that kind of stuff"

"Fine by me" Leah grinned as she pulled a B.L.T. from her paper bag.

The two ate their lunch in a comfortable silence, both thoroughly enjoying the lunch Bella packed for them.

"Bella must have packed her sandwich in your bag by accident" Charlie chuckled as Leah pulled a second BLT from her bag.

"Ha, maybe" Leah chuckled half heartedly as she held the sandwich contemplating pretending to be full.

As if her stomach knew she were teetering on whether or not to eat the sandwich it grumbled loudly in protest.

"Or you know, she packed me a second sandwich" Leah grinned at Charlie as she unwrapped it, quickly taking a large bite.

Charlie shrugged and turned his attention back to his lunch frowning at the baggie filled with sliced vegetables.

"She gives me grief about my diet and here she is condoning a second BLT for you" Charlie scoffed and bit into a carrot with a loud crunch.

"It's another wolf thing" Leah took another bite allowing Charlie to decide if he wanted to push the subject or not.

Charlie grunted his understanding and looked off at the soccer field in front of them. Leah wasn't going to explain further if Charlie didn't ask. The silence suddenly didn't feel so comfortable and Leah hastily finished her lunch.

"So what's pepper spray like?" Leah asked, looking for any kind of way to break the awkward silence.

"Not great" Charlie laughed lightly as he returned to his friendly demeanor.

This time Leah grunted her understanding and the two started back to the cruiser.

"If you're really curious I can show you at the end of the day" Charlie stated nonchalantly as he slid into the driver's seat.

"I mean I'm kind of curious…" Leah answered once she was in the passenger seat.

Leah wasn't so much curious about the feeling of it but how effective it would be on her wolf genetics.

"I believe that it's good for our officers to understand how their tools feel before they use them on someone else." The corner of Charlie's lip pulled up slightly. "I never force it upon my officers though, strictly voluntary." He quickly added.

"Alright, let's do that then. What else, the taser?" Leah was morbidly excited now.

"Yeah, sometimes they volunteer for a few good whacks from the baton" Charlie mentioned off hand as he thought back.

"Yeah, let's do all of that at the end of the day" Leah nodded once.

Charlie made an odd noise and Leah saw him quickly glance at her in surprise.

"Well usually an officer only volunteers for one maybe two but even then they're heavily spaced out." Charlie explained incredulously.

"Well…" Leah thought for a second "we'll start small then ramp up and I can stop if it's too much" she grinned at Charlie only really slightly concerned about the pepper spray.

By the time the end of the day had rolled around the entire station heard of Leah volunteering for three examples. Charlie and Leah stood on the grass out front the station, the rest of the officers stood close by watching.

"The baton is only really used as a defensive tool for the officer" Charlie explained, speaking loud enough that all the officers could hear even though they had all already heard this before.

"So start coming at me like you're real upset with me" Charlie instructed Leah.

Leah started towards Charlie and as she did he held the baton in front of him like a barrier between the two of them.

"Don't take it easy on me Charlie, I want everything you've got" Leah smiled her cocky smile, knowing this would hardly hurt her.

As Leah got into Charlie's space he used the baton to jab at her to keep her at bay. He was purposely jabbing her stomach each time and Leah frowned slightly knowing this would work plenty on a normal person.

"Now, let's say after that you're still coming at me"

Leah continued to press forward towards Charlie.

Charlie began a swing towards Leah's stomach and she knew she could avoid it with her wolf speed but that wasn't why she was here so she just braced herself and hoped she didn't lose her lunch. The baton made contact with a significant thud and Leah doubled to hold her stomach. It briefly hurt but before Leah could straighten up again Charlie had swung at the back of her knees causing Leah's legs to crumple. Leah's knees hit the grass hard and she placed one hand on the grass to keep from face planting.

"Now the assailant is on the ground and easier to handle." Charlie explained "At this point we can place them in handcuffs and inform them of their rights." Charlie extended his hand out to Leah to help her up. Leah took his hand and stood, brushing grass off her knees.

"So what do you think?" Charlie asked, watching Leah to make sure she was okay.

"Seems pretty effective," Leah grinned at Charlie "so what's the taser for?"

A few officers chuckled at Leah's remark.

"Well maybe we should save that for another day" Charlie suggested as he collapsed his baton and replaced it on his belt.

"Oh c'mon Charlie, your little stick didn't hurt that much, let's give the taser a try" Leah insisted with her patented smirk.

Charlie hesitated slightly, he still viewed Leah as a little girl in some senses and had the parental urge to protect her from any harm.

"Yeah, c'mon Charlie we wanna see the newbie get put in her place" one of the officers called out.

The youngest, probably in his late 20s, shoved him before breaking from the peanut gallery and walking over to Leah.

"I can support you so you don't fall too hard when it hits" He smiled kindly at Leah before smiling at Charlie.

"Alright" Charlie said hesitantly as he upholstered the taser "but these things are no joke"

The young officer linked arms with Leah, tightly then grinned at Charlie.

"Hey boss, don't hit me I tried it once and that was enough for a lifetime" he laughed and Leah and a few others joined.

"Well this would be used if the officer judged that the situation was a bit too dangerous for a baton. Plus its effects aren't long lasting like a beating from a baton." Charlie explained.

Charlie took aim at Leah's thigh and looked up at her again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, do it" Leah confirmed only a little nervous.

Charlie fired and two prongs embedded themselves in Leah's upper thigh. She was then quickly hit with a sudden shock. All her muscles contracted and she lost all control of them. Her muscles shook violently and Leah was having a hard time figuring out if it was the electrical current or her wolf threatening to come out. She was in her own head reassuring her wolf that everything was okay, there was no real danger and no need for her to make an appearance. When the shock stopped Leah's muscles relaxed significantly but there was still a slight shake to her body. Only once it had stopped did Leah tune back into the world around her.

"Give her another one, Chief, she's still standing" A different officer called, with a slight surprised tone.

"No, I think she's got a good understanding of what it feels like" Charlie unclipped the wires from the taser and holstered the tool before making his way over to Leah.

"Yeah, that was a really weird feeling" Leah laughed good naturedly.

The officer released his arm from hers and whistled low.

"When I got hit I crumpled to the ground with a serious case of lock jaw," he explained "took me a good ten minutes before I was up for standing again"

Charlie carefully removed the prongs from Leah's leg and began balling up the wire to be thrown out.

"Okay so pepper spray" Leah smiled at Charlie, feeling invigorated and overjoyed that she was able to contain her wolf through something like that.

Leah's excitement wasn't lost on the other officers and they all looked at her with varying looks of shock, surprise and disgust.

"No, that's enough for today" Charlie said as he started back towards the station.

"Oh come on Charlie the pepper spray is the whole reason we did this"

"I mean if she can stay upright after a taser shot to the thigh I wanna see her take a face full of mace" An officer reasoned with Charlie.

"Are you really sure you want this?" Charlie looked at Leah unsure of how he should be feeling.

"Yeah, hit me!" Leah stated enthusiastically.

"Alright, someone run in and grab some water bottles and towels" Charlie called to the peanut gallery without looking at them.

"I'll grab them" the young officer beside Leah called as he jogged back to the station.

"Once you get sprayed don't rub your eyes or touch your face, it'll make it worse" Charlie instructed Leah.

She nodded her understanding and noticed the peanut gallery moving up wind from where she stood. The young officer came back out of the station with towels and water bottles in his arms and stood with the rest of them.

"You're absolutely sure about this?" Charlie asked, skeptically.

"Yeah" Leah grinned, the taser hadn't really hurt at all so she figured this couldn't be that much worse.

Charlie sighed recognizing the determination in her eyes and pulled out the pepper spray pointing it at Leah's face.

"Okay, here goes" he said just before firing a quick blast at Leah.

Leah grit her teeth as the spray hit her and instantly made her face burn. Her eyes,nose and mouth instantly started watering out of control. Surprising Leah completely was the fact that her wolf didn't know if this was danger or not. Her wolf was confused by the threat and stayed passive as Leah stood with her hands on her knees, allowing all the fluids from her face to flow onto the ground. The wolf seemed to be waiting for Leah to find and identify the danger. This pulled Leah away from the pain her focus solely on her inner self. Had she really cracked the code of being a shifter? Was it really just acknowledging the wolf as a separate soul within one's body? Leah thought this would answer many of her questions, not create even more. She spat at the ground already feeling the pepper spray wear off. Someone was trying to hand her an open water bottle as she stayed hunched over and she realised she now needed to act like a human who had been pepper sprayed. She took the water and took a big gulp, swishing it around in her mouth before spitting it out. She listened to the people around her. They were laughing and joking around and she felt a hand on her shoulder. Leah straightened up and poured the water over her face, feeling even better with that. She was careful to not let her relief show on her face, she kept up a scowl and squinted her eyes.

"How you doing, kid?" Charlie asked from her side, removing his hand from her shoulder.

"I've been better" Leah forced her voice to sound hoarse.

"She's no kid, Chief" an officer called.

"Yeah she's a beast!" Another added.

Leah took a damp towel that was offered to her and put it to her face to hide her smirk. If only they knew.

"Man, you're crazy," Leah recognized the voice of the young officer "half these guys have never even felt a taser or pepper spray let alone back to back"

"Yeah that's why she's the Beast!" Someone called out from the direction of the parking lot.

When Leah removed the towel from her face she saw that the peanut gallery had broken up and were heading to their cars. Leah poured water on her face again to hide the fact that her face was no longer weeping from every hole.

"Hey, do you need a lift home?" Charlie asked Leah, obviously falling for her act too.

"I can give you a lift" the young officer quickly offered.

"Nah I'm good, I've got a ride showing up soon" Leah assured them both, giving Charlie a secret look trying to convey to him that she was fine.

"Are you sure cuz-" the officer was cut off by Charlie

"Come on Wyatt, it's been a long day. I'm sure Leah's ride will be here any second"

"Yeah okay," Wyatt nodded once and followed Charlie to the parking lot "see you tomorrow, Leah!" He called as he looked back at her and waved.

Once Leah saw that everyone was gone she snickered to herself. She quickly put the water and towels back in the station. Once she was back outside she made her way to the woods, her snickering turning to chuckles. Once in the forest she phased faster than she'd ever managed before. She knew she had cracked the code to being a shifter then.


End file.
